Unconnected
by damnmysterytome
Summary: Series of one shots involving Merle Dixon and Carol Peletier, ranging in short to long, K to M, the apocalypse to AU. They're all unconnected unless stated otherwise. Rated T in general.
1. Wizard of Oz

**I seriously have no idea what I'm doing anymore, but sometimes I think of drabbles that come out of nowhere and I have no intention of using them for an actual fic. These will range in short to long, K to M, the apocalypse to AU. They're all unconnected unless stated otherwise. Leave prompts if you're inspired. Thanks for reading!**

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"Fuck, woman, that hurts." Merle Dixon grunted, staring down at the ground as Carol dragged the needle through his skin. "Startin' ta think yer doing that on purpose."

The woman smiled at big bad Merle Dixon whining and pouting. "Wouldn't have to do this if you would be careful out there." Merle and Daryl had been hunting in the woods nearby when Merle got snagged on a tree branch, cutting through his shoulder. They'd only come back because the smell of Merle's fresh blood was going to attract walkers. Carol Peletier couldn't do much, wasn't allowed to do much, but she could give stitches like a pro. She'd been giving herself stitches for almost fifteen years.

"Ain't my fault, fuckin' tree attacked me." Merle said. If he could just get his hands on some of his favorite drug (or any drug, for that matter), this wouldn't hurt so fuckin' much. But he needed to get back out there and hunt and even an addict like Merle knew that he couldn't hunt if he was high.

The normally quiet woman couldn't stop the laugh that left her lips, imaging the tree from __Wizard of Oz__ attacking Merle. Merle looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes at Carol as she laughed at him. She quickly quieted, covering her mouth to stifle her laughter. Merle had never heard the woman laugh before, he didn't even know that she could. He liked her laughter. _Wait, what tha fuck was that? Goin' soft on me, Merle? _"Sorry, sorry. I wasn't laughing at you." Carol glanced up and noticed her husband, Ed, watching his wife work on Merle Dixon and laughing at something he said. She cleared her throat and returned back to the stitches she was giving him, falling as silent as she continued to work on his shoulder.

He looked away from her and looked up at her husband, snarling. Everyone at the quarry knew the man that Ed Peletier was, knew what he did to his wife. No one ever did anything, Merle included. He would have loved to catch him raising his hand to his wife or his daughter, he'd love to beat Ed's head in. Love to do to Ed what he could never do to his father.

Merle Dixon was an asshole, he was a racist, incredibly sexist and homophobic, he was high off his mind most of the time, had been in jail several times in his life. He did a lot of shitty things before (and after) the outbreak of the virus that made the dead walk the earth but the one thing he'd never done was hit a woman. He'd seen his Daddy knock around his Mama too much to ever repeat that. No amount of drugs could have changed that.

"What was so funny?" Merle's eyes stayed on Ed for a few more moments, as if he was daring the man to come over and say something to him. When Ed just returned to his conversation with Jim, Merle smirked. __Tha's what I thought, fuckin' pussy.__

"I was thinking about the tree from __Wizard of Oz__ attacking you." Carol admitted. Merle was quiet, leading Carol to believe that he had no idea what she was talking about. She finished the stitches, cutting the string and tying it off. Carol turned back to him and smoothed a bandage over the stitches, her hand resting on his broad, strong shoulder a moment longer than needed. "There you go… Try not to get attacked by anymore trees." She teased as Merle stood to his feet and rolled his shoulders. He glanced back at her before speaking.

"Sure as hell ain't in Kansas." He said just low enough for her to hear him. Carol tilted her head to the side and grinned. Merle fuckin' Dixon had watched _Wizard of Oz_, Merle knew the movie enough to reference it. _**Color me **__**surprised. **_ "Tell anyone I like _Wizard of Oz _and I'll shove ya in a pit of biters."

The threat was empty, the smirk on his face and look of amusement in his eyes making that evident. A smile formed on Carol's face and she let out a soft chuckle. "Your secrets safe with me." She said as she turned back to the first aid kit and packed it up. She wasn't aware that Merle was still there until he spoke again.

_Just get out of here, Dixon, ain't none of your business what's going on with her and her family. _"Yer husband knock ya around again or lie his hand on yer little girl, ya send 'im Dixon's way or let me know, alright? Little brotha and I got a way with fuckers like that." Carol looked up and opened her mouth to speak when she was cut off by Daryl Dixon.

"Merle, stop fuckin' flirtin' and lets go. Losin' daylight!" The younger Dixon snapped from the side of Dale's RV. Merle snorted, gave Carol a swift nod and walked past her towards his little brother. Carol's head turned and followed his path for a second before put away the first aid kit and returned to the lake where she was supposed to be, washing clothes with Andrea and Amy.


	2. Walker Bait

**So, this is obviously ****_very _****AU. It's based off the conversation that Carol has with Merle, but switched so that it's Daryl she's having the conversation with instead of Merle. Basically Daryl and Merle's roles have been switched around for my own amusement. (Merle's still Merle in general, but their storylines have been switched.) Turned out waaaaay longer than I meant, but meh. For purposes, I kept Axel around a little longer. Here ya go!**

**Warnings: Language, I guess. And threatening? Is that a warning?**

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There was a heavy air between Carol Peletier and Rick Grimes as Rick finished his stew and set the dish on the counter next to Carol. Everyone had eaten, everyone but two people. Carol and one other. "Someone needs to feed 'im." Rick nodded down the stairs at the cell that held Daryl Dixon. Carol turned her head and looked down at it, pursing her lips.

"That's very true. He's part of the prison now, whether or not we'd like it to be that way. We can't starve him." She agreed.

Rick followed Carol's gaze and looked down at the cell that held Daryl. He was still locked up until they could decide if they really trusted him. They should give him a chance to prove himself, he knew that if he wanted to stay here with Merle that he needed to get along with these people here, especially Rick and Carol. "Where's Merle at?" The obvious choice to feed Daryl was Merle, of course. Merle could deal with Daryl the best.

Carol still didn't like the idea. "Still out at the fence with Glenn." Carol said has she walked over to the stove and began to spoon out some of the squirrel stew that she'd made hours earlier into a small plastic bowl. "I'll take his food to him." She stated.

__That__ was an idea that Rick was not fond of. He had dealt with plenty of men like Daryl in his time and Carol was his friend, didn't want Daryl getting in Carol's head. "You sure about that? He doesn't play well with others." Carol glanced up at Rick and shrugged her shoulders.

"I got protection." She said and patted her side where the heavy buck knife that Merle had given her a year ago rest inside a holster. Rick chuckled and Carol lifted her head up to look at her friend with a frown. "What's so funny?"

Rick shook his head. "Just thinkin' about... How far everyone here has come." He smiled down at Carol, who returned his mile. She thought about it, though about how everyone had changed, how the group had changed. Nothing was the same anymore. "Gonna go check on Judith, give a shout if you need me." He said. Carol nodded and watched him walk away, watched him go find Beth and Judith before she set down the bowl on a tray along with a glass of water and a spoon to eat his stew with.

Carol couldn't tell you that she wasn't nervous about being face to face with Merle's brother alone, because she was. Daryl didn't play well with others, didn't like other people. He'd attacked Glenn and Maggie, beaten Glenn half to death. He'd scared her as much as her dead husband did back at the quarry. And Merle had come so far without him, she didn't even want to think about Merle reverting back to the man he used to be. Merle had promised he wouldn't revert back to the man, she knew how persuasive men like Daryl could be.

"What're ya doin'" __His ears must have been ringing. __Carol turned her head to look up at Merle and turned to look up at him, holding the tray in her hands.

She had to fight her lips to not break out in a grin, she couldn't help but smile when she saw Merle, especially now. "Someone has to feed the devil." She said and twitched her head towards the stairs.

He frowned. Daryl wasn't the devil, he was just an asshole. You had to know how to deal with him. "I can take 'is food to him." Merle offered, reaching his hands out to take the tray.

Carol sighed. She had hoped she would just get to do this before Merle had returned, she knew he would try to stop her. "I got it, Merle." Merle opened his mouth again to argue with her, tell her that no, _he _would take his brother his food, his brother was probably just going to be an asshole to her. Fear crept in; what if Daryl scared her off from him? She cut him off. "If this is going to work, he's going to have to get used to playing well with others and you can't be the only one to interact with him."

Merle knew she was right, but he still didn't like it. He loved his brother, but his brother was a jackass and this was __his __woman, he needed to protect her as best as he could. Especially from his own blood.

"Besides, I've got protection." Carol nodded towards the knife that was attached to her side and Merle's top lip formed in a twitch. Carol gave him a comforting smile and moved to walk past him, jumping slightly when one of his hands came back and grabbed a handful of her ass. She craned her head to look back at him, raising an eyebrow at his devilish grin.

"Shout if ya need me." He echoed Rick's statement from earlier. Carol's lips turned up in a smile and she turned to walk down the stairs.

She took a moment to gain her confidence as she walked over to the cell and nodded at Carl to unlock the cell.

The sounds of the cell being unlocked gain Daryl's attention and he glanced up at Carl Grimes unlocking the cell to let the mouse from the quarry in. He was surprised that someone other than Merle was coming to interact with him, everyone else had stayed far away from him.

"Hungry?" Carol leaned against the cell door that held Daryl Dixon, staring him down until he nodded and invited her into the cell. She set his food down on the table next to the cot and leaned against the wall. He sat up off the bed and picked up the bowl of squirrel stew, picking up the spoon she'd given him.

_Don't be an asshat, Daryl. _He remembered his brothers words earlier. "Thanks." Daryl mumbled.

Carol was surprised that Daryl just thanked her for the food, she had expected him to grunt at her. "You're welcome. You're part of our family now, that means being fed." Daryl glanced up at the woman before he looked down at the stew. They had much better food back at Woodbury, he almost missed the town. He began to eat the stew, unaware that Carol was still standing there until she began to speak.

"Merle loves you. And you're his brother, so I understand why he left with you." Her voice startled Daryl and he looked up at her briefly before looking back at the stew. "But you're not good for him." Daryl stopped eating, dropping the spoon into the stew. He looked up at the woman and snarled as he set the stew down on the tray.

"Tha fuck ya just say, bitch?" He asked. Carol didn't flinch as Daryl snarled at her or as he spoke. She had enough of being scared of people and and she refused to be scared of Daryl Dixon. She had her knife on her, could defend herself against him if she needed.

She entered the cell further and she sat on the chair next to the bed. She made eye contact with Daryl, which she could tell unnerved the angry man. "You heard me." Her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned forward and Daryl could see the long buck knife poking out of a holster on her waist band. He knew the knife, it was Merle's years ago. He knew that his brother had been fucking the woman, Merle had all but admitted it before they returned to the prison and he'd seen the way Merle and her had embraced when he returned. He had thought she was nothing more than something for Merle to fuck. Was it possible that his brother actually loved this woman?

"You can sit there and believe that you're the only one who is ever going to care about Merle or love Merle, but you've never been more wrong about that. This whole prison loves him." Daryl scoffed and looked away from her, the people inside this prison could call themselves his family all they wanted but _they weren't family. _He was family. They could say they loved Merle but he was the only one who loved him. As if Carol could read his mind, she added. "I love him." He looked back at Carol, slightly startled by the fact that she was still looking him directly at him.

Out of the corner of Daryl's eye he saw Merle come down the stairs, saw Merle stand at the bottom of the stairs and watch Daryl and Carol as they spoke. What, did his brother think he was going to up and attack Carol? Exactly what would he attack with? The knife that had been attached to his arm was taken from him, the spoon he was using for his strew couldn't be used. Course, he could _easily _take the knife from Carol's holster. Alright, the fact that he knew that was exactly the reason his brother was looming around. "And if you screw this up with him, if you screw this up __for __him, I'll take you outside the prison, shoot your kneecaps out and leave you for the Walkers." Daryl was speechless by what she just said, staring up at her with wide eyes. She was definitely not the woman she was back at the quarry. "Have I made myself clear?" She asked.

Daryl's head snapped back up at her and he scoffed. "Yes, ma'am." Maybe he was wrong to think that no one but him could love his brother, he knew what he was like. Daryl knew he was intimidating, everyone ran around like little mice around a big cat when he was around. Everyone but her.

His scoffed was noticed, but ignored. If he wanted to act like a child, she could certainly treat him like one. She stood to her feet, crossing her arms over her chest. "Enjoy your dinner, Carl will be more than happy to take it from you. Someone will come down to get you when we have some hot water for you to take a _bath_. Enjoy your dinner, Daryl." Carol put on a friendly smile as she stepped out of the cell, waiting to watch Carl lock the cell back up. She turned around and started to walk towards the stairs, seeing Merle standing there. Carol raised an eyebrow at Merle and stopped in front of him.

"Have a nice conversation?" He asked, leaning against the railing as Carol walked up the stairs.

"I made my point clear." She said. Merle glanced back at his brother, noticing the fact that he was watching them as he ate his stew. He cleared his throat and gave his brother a nod before he turned around and walked up the stairs after her. He could hear his brothers silent mocking in his ear as he followed Carol like a puppy following his master around.

Merle followed Carol back into the kitchen, watching as she stood at the stove. "Which was?" He asked, leaning against one of the tables. Carol stopped and turned around, holding her own bowl of squirrel stew.

"That he's not the only one here that loves you." Carol said. Merle raised an eyebrow and took a step over to her, staring down at Carol.

"Were you talking about you?" He asked. Merle and Carol didn't really talk about their feelings much, and that three letter sentence had never been said between them, even as much as the two have been through.

Carol shrugged her shoulders and ran her spoon through the squirrel stew. If Daryl was angled just right, he could probably see their interaction, she wondered if he was watching. It felt like __someone __was watching and it was either him or Axel.

"Yes." Merle was surprised when she flat out admitted it, though she didn't come out and 'I love you'.

She did tell Daryl that she loved Merle, it was the truth. She knew that, had always known that, even if she never told Merle it. Carol turned her head and looked up at him. "We all love you, Merle. Every single prison at this prison loves you." She said and set her bowl down. "Me especially." He glanced at her and Carol could see the hint of a smile on his face. "Probably a little more than they do." She teased.

He cleared his throat and leaned against the table again, crossing his arms over his chest as Carol walked over to him. "Yeah.. Me too." He said. It was the best that Carol was going to get, she knew that. That was okay, maybe someday they'd come out and say it to each other.

Carol stood directly in front of him, a small smile formed on her face. Merle felt a swell of pride in his chest, he always felt good whenever he was able to make Carol smile. "But if you ever leave me again, I'm going to hunt your ass down, shoot you in the heel and leave you for walker bait, ya hear?" Carol threatened. Merle looked down at her and his eyes widened as she threatened him. He nodded and reached down to ease his arms around Carol's waist.

He knew the same thing that Carol did, that if Daryl angled himself just right he could watch what they were doing, he felt that someone was staring at him too. Could be his brother or Axel. He really needed to sit down and have a talk with Axel about staring at his woman.

"Yous a real Dixon, ain't ya?" He asked. There were other people in the prison, Carl, his brother, Beth and Judith were all there. As far as he knew those were the only people in the prison. He couldn't be sure if his brother could see them and even if he could, Merle wasn't sure if he even cared if his brother saw their interaction. Most of the time, he hated the idea of people seeing him show affection towards Carol, but overtime he had gotten used to it.

"You've rubbed off on me." Carol said, moving her arms to wrap around his broad form. She fit perfectly against his frame, like she was met to be there. Merle liked it, he wouldn't deny that if he was ever asked.

A Cheshire grin formed on his face, which Carol never trusted. "I'll do more than that later if ya ain't too mad at me later."

"You're bad." Carol said and dug her nails into the middle of his back. "Aren't you supposed to be out helping Glenn with the fence?" Carol asked and removed her arms from around his waist, reaching back to pick up her bowl of squirrel stew. She didn't like eating squirrel stew, but it was what they had.

"Glenn can take care of it 'imself." Merle shrugged. Carol looked up at Merle as she chewed the food in her mouth, staring at him until he sighed and gave in. "Alright, fine. Gonna give me some sugar before I go, sugar tits?"

Carol rolled her eyes and swallowed her food. She glanced around to see if anyone was watching, Axel or Daryl especially. Merle and her weren't like Maggie and Glenn, they rarely kissed in front of everyone. Probably only a handful of times had they. When she saw that no one was, she leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips into his. Merle returned her kiss, an arm coming around her waist and tugging her back against him, almost spilling her stew on the table behind him. She pulled away after a moment and licked her lips. "You know I hate when you call me sugar tits."

"Why do you think I call you it so much?" Carol pursed her lips and shook her head.

"Get out there and help Glenn." __After what __**_**your **_**__brother did to him, he needs more help than he's willing to admit. __"Now, Walker Bait." She ordered. Merle raised his hand up and saluted Carol before leaning down and giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Yes, ma'am." Merle mumbled before he walked past her, down the stairs and passed his brother without acknowledging the younger Dixon.


	3. Go Fish

**I've had a random attack of Daddy!Merle feels, so this one and the next will be completely about Merle being a father. As usual, thanks for checking this out and I still don't own The Walking Dead.**

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"Son of a … Monkey!" Merle Dixon shouted from the kitchen. Carol lifted her head up from the edge of the bathtub and frowned, wondering what the hell was going on in her kitchen. There was a loud giggle coming from the mouth of her daughter, Sophia, so she didn't think anything bad was happening. Carol lied her head back on the edge of the large tub and shut her eyes again. "God... Mother.. Jesus!" Carol heard Merle yell again and she opened her eyes, lifting her head up. Once again, Sophia's loud laughter came up from the kitchen. If Sophia was laughing at her fathers attempts to not swear in front of her, she knew that nothing was wrong. She smiled to herself and decided that it was time to get out of the tub anyway, the water wasn't warm anymore and most of the bubbles were gone. Besides, she was hungry and knew Merle had brought home pizza earlier.

Carol sat up and pulled the plug out of the tub, standing to the feet. She turned the water on so she could use the detachable shower head to rinse the soap suds off of her. She rinsed the bubbles off of her and climbed out the tub, drying her body off before she picked up her robe and wrapped the plush robe around her body. Carol returned to her bedroom and dressed in her pajamas, returning the robe to the bathroom before she head downstairs. She'd had a long day at work and a doctors appointment, so when she got home and Merle was already home with their daughter, he just told her to take a long bubble bath, he could handle taking Sophia to her soccer practice and her dance class. Carol normally did it, so she was apprehensive of Merle doing all of that but when they returned home a half hour ago, everything must have gone well.

Carol walked into their kitchen, smiling at the sight in front of her. Sitting at the kitchen table was her husband, Merle, and their eight year old daughter, Sophia, with a deck of cards between them. Carol leaned against the wall as Merle glanced between his hand of cards and their daughter.

"Got any 5s?" He asked, the gentle voice he typically used with Sophia long gone and his normal gruff voice in its place.

Sophia glanced between her father and the cards in her hands, scanning her cards for any 5s. She didn't have any 5s, but she also knew that her father was getting really frustrated. He only had three pairs and she had six. "Go fish, Daddy." Merle sighed and reached into the pile to pick up another card, only to pick up a four. Hey, he had three of those now.

Sophia looked up at her father and glanced at the cards in her hands. "Do you have any fours?" She asked. Merle frowned and stared at his little girl, it was like she knew he had just gotten close to getting a four pair.

He set the cards down in front of her. "Oh, come fu- come on!" Merle exclaimed, much to the amusement of Sophia and now his wife. He glanced up at Carol and noticed her leaning against the wall and laughing. "This ain't funny, Carol." He grunted in his wife's direction.

Sophia turned her head to look up at her mother, a grin forming on her face. "Hi, Momma." She said as Carol walked over to the table and smoothed her daughters hair out before kissing her forehead.

"Hi, baby. Tormenting your father?" Carol asked.

"Daddy sucks at Go Fish." Sophia said as she watched her mother moved to rest her hand on her fathers back and leaned down to kiss her fathers cheek. Merle grunted in Carol's direction as she ran her hand over his back. She could sense his frustration as much as Sophia could, though both of them knew that Merle would rather get run over with a monster truck than ever take his frustration out on his family.

"And yer not very good at actually fishing, don't see me braggin'." Merle mumbled, wishing he could have a cigarette or a beer but Carol didn't want him drinking or smoking in front of Sophia. He understood, he probably wouldn't have started smoking and drinking if he hadn't seen his Daddy doing it too. There were other things he probably never would have done if he hadn't seen his Daddy doing them too.

Carol and Sophia both laughed at him. "Merle, be nice." Carol scolded playfully and gave him a playful nudge. Merle grunted and glanced at Carol as she stepped away from her family and walked over to the stove where several boxes of pizza sat. She pulled out a piece of pepperoni for herself and leaned against the stove while watching them play a game she never knew could be so frustrating.

Merle and Sophia finished the game of Go Fish, their third of the night, with Sophia once again winning. For once, Merle had been determined to beat his daughter in something. Normally he let her win games, but it was because they were games he could beat her at. After two more games, he still hadn't managed to win one. He was sure that Go Fish shouldn't be so damn hard, he could play poker really well why the hell couldn't he play Go Fish?

"Go get ready for bed, Sophia. You do have school tomorrow." Carol said as Merle pulled the cards back together. Merle was secretly thankful that she told Sophia to go to bed, he didn't want to play anymore but he knew if she asked again he would say yes. Sophia looked up at her mother and nodded, climbing out of the chair. She came around to her mother and wrapped her arms around her waist, resting her head on Carol's stomach.

"Goodnight, Mom. I love you."

"Night, baby. I love you too." Carol said softly, hugging her daughter close. Sophia pulled away after a moment and moved to her father, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders. Merle couldn't help but smile as she hugged him, wrapping his arms around her tiny frame. Merle was always terrified he was going to mess his kid up like his father messed him up. He didn't know how to be a father, he just wanted to be a good father to her. Merle knew he messed up occasionally, but he was never going to treat Sophia like his old man treated him. His little girl was always going to be treated like the princess she was if Merle had a say in it.

"Thanks for playing with me, Daddy. And losing a bunch." Sophia pressed her lips into her fathers cheek. "I love you."

Merle turned his head to look at his daughter and he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Love you too, kid." Sophia pulled away from her father and went upstairs to get ready for bed. Carol followed her daughter after a few moments to tuck her in, shutting Sophia's door halfway before walking downstairs and into the kitchen where Merle still was.

Carol moved across the kitchen and opened the fridge up, pulling a bottle of beer out of the fridge. She wrapped her shirt around the lid to twist it off and moved towards the table, sitting it down in front of Merle before she sat on one of Merle's strong legs. One of Merle's arms came around her waist as he picked up the beer, taking a long pull of the bottle. Just what he needed after a long day of work and playing a stupid card game with his daughter. Merle liked moments like that with Sophia, knew she wasn't always going to want her father around. He cherished them, but he'd be damned if he ever played Go Fish again.

Carol smiled as she watched Merle drink from the bottle, thinking about when she first told Merle that she was pregnant. "Remember when I was pregnant and you were terrified you were going to be a terrible father and you were going to screw her up?" She asked, leaning against the table. He glanced at her over the bottle.

"Yeah?" He asked as he set the beer down on the table. Carol smiled and wrapped her arms around his shoulder, studying his face before she spoke.

"You're the best Daddy I could ever want for my little girl." Carol said softly, her hands coming up to cup the back of his neck and pull his mouth towards her.

Merle kissed his wife, his free hand grasping the back of her shirt. They'd been together for fifteen years; married for eleven of those years, something that surprised him to this day. He had never thought he was going to get married, he was twenty five years old and heading down a dangerous path when he met twenty three year old Carol at the grocery store. She'd changed him fifteen years ago, made him a much better person than he could have ever hoped to be. Merle would probably be serving a life sentence in jail now if it wasn't for Carol.

"Yer just sayin' that." Merle mumbled against her lips. Carol pulled away from him and shook her head.

"No, I'm not. There's no one I'd rather have children with." She said, tracing her fingers along the short hairs on the back of his neck.

Merle raised his eyebrow at her, there was something about the way she worded that. "Children?" He asked, staring at his wife warily. She rest her hand over her stomach, dragging her tongue over her bottom lip. They'd been trying for another baby for the last three years, but found it was getting more difficult with them getting older. "Are ya..."

Carol nodded. This wasn't exactly how she had planned to tell Merle that she was pregnant again, but what better time than to tell him than right now. "I'm pregnant." She watched his face, waiting to see how he'd respond to the news.

The grin that formed on Merle's face mirrored the one that had been on his face when she told him that she was pregnant with Sophia, but there wasn't a trace of fear in his eyes like there was last time. He glanced down at her still flat stomach and looked back up at his wife. He had no words that could describe what he was thinking right now. Merle reached forward and took a long drink of the beer, swallowing and glancing at her. Carol was pregnant again, was going to have another baby. They were going to have another baby, a little sibling for his daughter. He set the beer down and reached up to grasp the sides of her face, tugging her back towards him and pressing his lips into hers. "Wait, am I allowed to drink beer and kiss ya?" He asked, as if he had completely forgotten Carol's first pregnancy.

Carol laughed at Merle's question, they'd already had a kid, you'd think he'd know these things already. Her pregnancy had been surprisingly easy, she could only hope that this one would be as easy. "Did when I was pregnant with Sophia, she turned out perfect." Carol said, shrugging her shoulders and pressing her lips into his again.

Merle spoke when Carol pulled away. "Think she'll be happy?" He remembered when his mom had told him that he was going to have a brother, Merle had been ten years old and hated the idea of having a brother. Mostly because he knew both of his parents, knew he would end up being stuck taking care of the kid. And his assumptions had been right.

"She's wanted a little brother for years now." Carol said and stood to her feet, taking her husbands hand. They went into the living room, sitting on the couch together. Merle pulled her legs over his lap and looked over at her. He tried to imagine her pregnant again, pregnant with another one of __his __kids. He was in as much surprise as he was when she had told him about Sophia.

__A little brotha.__ Hopefully Sophia would be a much better sibling to a brother than he was to his own brother. "If it's a boy.. Think we can name him after Daryl?" Carol looked up at Merle, surprised at the rare mention of his little brother. She'd never met Daryl or knew much about him at all, all she knew was that he died when they were kids. He'd never explained anything past that and Carol let him have that to himself. In the decade and a half that Carol and Merle had been together, he'd only mentioned Daryl a handful of times. Carol suspected that she would have never heard about him at all if Merle hadn't been talking in his sleep about Daryl one night and she'd asked him about it the next morning. She'd always wanted to know more about him, but never pushed her husband to talk about it.

Carol had __wanted__ to name her first son after his father, but Merle rarely asked for anything like this and he rarely brought his brother up. She knew that had to be hard for him. Carol licked her lips and nodded, lacing her fingers through his.

"Yeah, Daryl sounds good." She said. Merle's throat tightened and he gave his wife a nod, squeezing her hand gently. Carol sat up a bit and pressed her lips into his cheek softly, leaning back against the arm of the couch. "What if we get another girl?"

"Then I'm gonna need a lot more beer." He playfully grunted. Carol rolled her eyes and shook her head as Merle's hand ran up over her calves. "Always liked the name Dianna."

Carol raised an eyebrow, thinking of Merle sitting around and thinking about what he'd name his kids. "Daryl Elijah and Dianna Charlotte." Merle glanced over at Carol and nodded. He liked those names.

"Yer not gonna change yer mind six times like with Sophia, are ya?" He asked.

"It was not six, it was more like four. Besides, can you see her with the name __Ruth?__" Carol argued, holding her head up by her hand. Merle grinned and rest both hands on top of her legs. "Hopefully by then you'll get better at Go Fish." Carol teased and nudged his side with her toe.

Merle scoffed and looked over at Carol, pulling her legs off of him and moving to just barely hover over her body. He spoke before capturing her lips in a heated kiss. "Fuck Go Fish."


	4. Merle Jr

**Alright,so this is another idea that formed with talking about Marol with rooker92 on tumblr which tbh I live for those conversations they give me life. It's another Daddy!Merle fic and it's another AU because I really do think that Merle and Carol (despite having written a fic about Carol having a kid before) might have been close to too old to have a kid in the apocalypse. Or maybe it's just easier to write AUs for me. Either way, this is AU but it involves a lot of other characters. Obviously Merle and Carol but Daryl's also here and others (Rick, Lori, Shane, Andrea, Glenn and Maggie) are mentioned.**

* * *

There were two things that Merle Dixon never wanted to be: he never wanted to be a boyfriend and he never wanted to be a father. All he wanted to do was deal his drugs, make his money, do his drugs, and travel with his little brother. That was all he had planned. He didn't need to think about anything else when he knew what he and Daryl were going to do the next day. And Merle was fine with the life that he and Daryl led. Why wouldn't he be? He didn't need anything else other than his drugs and his brother. He didn't need a girlfriend or a kid.

Slowly, those things started to change. The first one changed first, the day he and his brother returned home to Atlanta, Georgia and he met Carol Lucas. It was by chance really, he was in the right place at the right time. He and Daryl had been at the library using their bathrooms and doing a deal there when he first noticed her. She was stuck in a corner of the library with several text books surrounding her. It was clear to Merle that she hadn't even noticed the Dixons come in – despite the fact that they were way too loud for anyone to not notice them. Even in a library, they were loud mouths. They weren't going to get kicked out, people feared the Dixons. People let the Dixons do whatever they wanted because they feared the Dixons.

Not her, though. She didn't even blink when Merle walked up to her and introduced himself. By the unimpressed look on her face, she knew who he was. And Merle knew __exactly __who he was. He was Merle Dixon, badass with movie star looks. He was a very attractive and a charming man, he had always known that and he had _always _used that to his advantage. When he'd introduced himself with a charming grin, she just blinked at him told she knew who he was and looked back towards her books. When he'd tried to talk to her again, the girl kindly told him that she didn't have time to talk and asked him to leave her alone. She didn't care who he was, she was too busy for whatever he had to offer.

That did __not __please Merle. He was not used to being told no. He tried not to let it bother him as he and his brother conducted their business, but it seemed that every time he saw her around town (which seemed to be all the time. Wherever he and his little brother went, she was there,) he was just reminded of the way she shut him down.

It was that moment that Merle Dixon decided he __would__ have her.

For the first time in years, Merle and Daryl stuck around in a town. Merle hadn't told Daryl it was because he was chasing after a piece of tail, but he was sure Daryl had figured it out. Merle had asked questions around town about the girl. He learned that her name was Carol Lucas, she was studying psychology at the local community college, she had moved to Atlanta after escaping her abusive father, worked at the library he'd first seen her and had been the cause of several bar fights. Whether she had been the __cause __or had __caused __the bar fights no one ever straight up answered him.

He started hanging around the library a lot, trying to get her to talk to him. She'd give him a few minutes a day, he figured that she knew he wasn't going to give up until he got a moment of her time. He'd started asking her to go out with him a week and a half after he first met her and each time she laughed at him and told him he'd have to work harder than that if he wanted a night of her time. Carol never once told him to leave her alone or told him no, so he never felt bad about continuing to pursue her. It wasn't until the end of the week until she agreed to go out with him. __"You're not gonna stop asking me out until I agree, are you?" "Until ya tell me to leave ya alone, which ya ain't done yet." "You can pick me up at eight. I know you know where I live."__

Merle took her to the one place he felt comfortable, a bar. It was there he learned that yes, Carol Lucas was the __cause __of bar fights and she __caused __bar fights. When a guy got a little handsy while Merle was in the bathroom, she had kicked him in the balls and told him that if he ever put his hands on her again, she was going to take her shotgun and shove it up his ass. Merle had wished he'd seen that but by the time he'd left the bathroom, Carol was in the guys face and she was yelling at him. Of course, Merle had to come to the girls defense – they were on a date after all. A bar fight had broken out after he'd punched the guy in the face. Cops were called and both Carol and Merle were kicked out of the bar and they returned back to the hotel that Merle and Daryl were staying in. Daryl was out, Merle had no idea where.

It was that night, that moment, when they were lying in the afterglow of intense post-bar fight fucking, that Merle Dixon realized something that he had thought could never happen. He was absolutely, hopelessly and pathetically in love with Carol Lucas. He'd never wanted to be someone's boyfriend before, he didn't even know what that took. But he wanted to be Carol's. And he felt like such a fuckin' pussy about it.

Their relationship was never easy, especially at first. Merle was high most of the time and when he saw high, he was an absolute jackass. They fought a lot, but she never backed down from him. She'd been bossed around and made into a cowering mouse by one man, she wasn't going to let Merle do the same thing.

As with any relationship, the mixing of friends ended up happening. Carol didn't have a lot of friends, she had a small group of very protective friends. There was Rick and Lori, Glenn and Maggie, and Shane and Andrea. There were some other people that drifted in and out but those were the only ones that mattered. Merle __hated __them. Rick and Shane were both cops, they knew of the Dixons. They hated him just as much as he hated them. Glenn wasn't too bad, but he was a fuckin' Chinaman (Korean, as Carol would frequently remind him with a pinch of his thigh). Lori, Maggie and Andrea were good Southern girls, but damn were they fucking annoying. Carol liked them though, and he liked Carol, so he tried to be nice to them. But fuck he hated them. He didn't want to be any of their friends. But he put on a fake smile and played nice. Anything for Carol.

Through the next few years, they had a rocky relationship. Most of it was spent fighting and making up with rough sex against any hard surface they could find. It was really no surprise when Carol told him she was pregnant, they almost never used protection. But still, Merle hadn't expected it to happen. He hadn't expected for the day he'd come home and find Carol pouring down all of their alcohol down the drain. Since he'd stopped using drugs a year ago, alcohol was his only vice, the only thing to keep the rage down. __"What the fuck do ya think yer doing?" "What does it __**_**look**_**__like I'm doing?" "Throwing out all my damn beer." "Then why did you ask?" "Because I wasn't sure if ya were actually doin' what I thought you were doin'." "Well I am." "Well why the fuck are ya doin' it?" "Because I'm pregnant, Merle, and if I can't drink, you sure as hell can't drink." "Yer what?" "I'm pregnant, Merle. We're having a baby."__

Merle Dixon didn't know a lot about pregnancies, he was only five when his mother was pregnant with his brother, but he knew that they weren't easy. And he knew this one wasn't going to be easy, especially if she wasn't going to allow him to drink. He never wanted to be a father. Hell, he knew he should have gotten fixed. Merle never wanted to pass on the Dixon genes to another kid. Kid was gonna have a fucked up life being related to Merle. He thought about leaving her, just packing up his shit, grabbing Daryl and leaving. Merle had even started packing a bag, but he'd look back on Carol in their bed and he couldn't do it. Couldn't leave her like that. Merle wasn't even sure if he'd like the kid, what if he hated his own child? He was almost convinced that he would end up hating his kid.

Until the bastard was born.

Merle was at work at the local auto shop when the phone call came in that Carol was going into labor. He wasn't actually sure if that's what was happening at first, when he picked up the phone all he heard was Carol screaming in the background as Daryl tried to shout over her screaming. All Merle could even make out was 'Carol, baby, hospital'. His first guess was that something bad was happening, he'd hung up on Daryl and rushed over to the hospital.

When Merle arrived at the hospital, Daryl was waiting in the waiting room, pacing along the room. All of her friends were sitting there too, which just terrified him even more. His gut feeling told him something was wrong.

"Jesus, finally, yer fuckin' here." Daryl said as he walked over to Merle. Merle looked at his brother, trying to keep his nerves in check.

"Fuck's goin' on? Could barely make out what ya were talkin' about." Merle asked, his voice low.

Daryl's eyes opened wide and he glanced back towards the hallway. "She's in labor, man. Yer gonna be a Daddy."

Merle's eyes widened and he felt his heart stop and drop into his stomach. Most fathers were excited the day their kid was born, Merle was just terrified. What if he fucked the kid up? What if he fucked the kid up as much as his Daddy fucked him up? What if he hated him? What if the kid ruined his relationship? What if he was no better a Daddy than his father was? He considered bolting, turning around and running. Getting the fuck out of town before shit really did get real.

As if he could read his brothers mind, Daryl reached forward and grabbed his shoulder. "Ya better get in there. She'll kill ya if ya don't." Daryl said.

Merle knew his brother was right. Carol would have his head on a platter if he missed the birth. He hadn't spoken to her all day, they'd gotten into a fight the night before that had turned nasty. They'd been screaming at each other for hours when she had kicked him out, told him she was going to do this on her own, that she didn't need him, that he'd be a shit Dad anyway. What if she didn't even want him there? He glanced between his brother and her friends, knowing there was no way he could bolt. He swallowed his pride and walked down the hallway towards the room she was in.

Andrea had been sitting with Carol while she waited for Merle through her contractions. Her short hair was wet with sweat, her gown sticking to her wet body. She looked in more pain than he had ever seen anyone look, and he was a recovering drug addict.

Carol's head snapped up when she heard Merle walk in and he stood there awkwardly. He was prepared to have something thrown at him, told to get the hell out of here. "Merle!" Carol sobbed out, reaching out for Merle. He took a few steps over to him and Carol engulfed him in a vice grip, her arms wrapping around his back tightly. Her fingers bunched in his leather jacket. "I'm sorry, I can't do this without you. You're going to be a great Dad."

At least one of them thought. "Shh, I'm here now." Merle mumbled as he forced himself out of her grip so he could remove his jacket. He took her hand, thinking he could handle whatever she gave him. "I ain't going anywhere." He grunted, leaning down to press his lips against her sweaty forehead.

"Goo – Ah fuck!" Carol screamed as another contraction hit her. She used the hand that Merle had given her, squeezing it. Merle had to fight the urge to rip his hand away from her. He'd never thought his tiny girlfriend could have a grip like that. Thank God it was just his hand she was squeezing.

Andrea glanced up at Merle, thankful that some of the pressure was off her hand. "See what you've left me with?" She asked jokingly. Merle made a face at her as he leaned against the bed, preparing for another contraction anytime now.

It was hours later before Merle's son entered the world. They had opted not to find out what they were going to have, so it was a surprise when it turned out to be a boy. Merle was sure that his hand was never going to be the same again, but he couldn't think about that as his child was placed into Carol's arms after he'd been cleaned up. He had a son, a perfect child. A perfect combination of Carol's perfect genes and his fucked up ones. He hoped that he got more of Carol than his old man.

He stared down at his kid, stared down at his girlfriend. "He's perfect." Carol said, her voice tired and hoarse from her screaming during labor. "Merle Jr." She stated, it wasn't a question.

"Merle Jr? Aw, hell nah. You can't give him my terrible fuckin' name." He argued.

Carol's head turned up and she looked up at him. "When you shove a kid out of your vagina, you can name it whatever you want." Merle glanced down at Carol, then looked down at the small bundle of blue in his arms. __Merle Jr. __Alright, maybe he liked it more than he'd admit.

"Merle Jr it is." Merle mumbled and looked down at the baby.

Merle Dixon never wanted to be anyone's father, but he'd be damned if he wasn't this kids father. Now that he was born he _wanted _to be his father and there wasn't a damn person that could stop him from being this kids father.

It was days until Merle picked up his son for the first time, he'd been so terrified he was going to drop him that he couldn't do it. Despite Carol's reassurance that he wouldn't drop him, that it'd be okay, he still couldn't do it.

The first time Merle picked up Merle Jr it was when Carol was taking a much needed shower and the kid had started to cry. He couldn't stand to hear his kid cry, much like he couldn't stand to hear his Mama cry. "Alright, kid, I'm gonna pick you up. But no more of that cryin', alright? Ya make my head ache with all that." Merle said as he reached into the crib and picked up his small son in his large hands. He remembered how Carol told him to cradle the kid in his arms, making sure to keep his head cradled. There was nothing like holding his own flesh and blood like this, there was nothing that he could compare it to. "Alright, where did yer Ma put yer bottle?" He mumbled as he walked over to the fridge where Carol had put a bottle of breast milk in just in case. __Remember to warm it up if he wakes up, Merle. __Carol had told him before she got into the shower. She was taking for damn ever in the bathroom. Merle put the bottle in the microwave for a few seconds before he moved to sit in his favorite recliner. He held the bottle up for Merle Jr, watching as the kid took the nipple in his mouth and began to drink from it.

Sitting in the chair with his kid in his arms, Merle couldn't explain it. Felt right.

Carol returned from the shower after Merle had fed him and burped him against his shoulder, standing in the kitchen as she watched Merle sit with their kid. She watched for a few moments, looking at the smile on his face. She'd been worried that Merle wasn't going to take to being a father, especially after he began to refuse to hold him, but all of that had washed away the second she saw Merle Jr in his arms. Carol smiled and walked into the living, running her hands through the short strands of Merle's hair. Merle glanced up at his freshly washed girlfriend and a rare full smile formed on his face. Not a grin or a smirk, but a smile.

"Want me to take him?" Carol asked as she sat against the arm of the chair. Merle shook his head and looked down at Merle Jr, who had fallen back asleep in his arms.

"Nah, I got days of holding 'im to make up for." He said. Carol smiled and leaned down to press her lips into his gently.

"Told you you'd be good at this, Daddy." Carol said as she stared at her men.

Merle glanced up at her and he shrugged. "Ain't how I imagined ya'd start calling me Daddy." He joked. Carol made a face and pinched behind his ear, grinning when Merle cursed. "I ain't ever wanted to be a kids father before." He admitted. "I ain't goin' anywhere."

"I know... Try to leave me and you're getting real acquainted with my favorite shotgun." Carol joked, but there was a hint of truth to the threat. Merle laughed, then looked up at her. Carol looked absolutely exhausted and Merle felt guilt creep in his stomach. She'd been doing everything completely by herself while Merle just watched.

Christ, he was a fucking asshole. "Go and take a nap, I got this." He said, glancing down at the sleeping baby in his arms. He had already been fed and Carol had changed him just before she went to take a shower, how hard could it be to watch him for just a few hours?

Carol eyed her boyfriend, tilting her head to look down at him. Her shower was the most alone time that Merle had ever had with their kid, could he really handle a few hours alone? "You sure?" She asked, giving him a chance to get out of the situation now.

Merle nodded and looked up at her again. "I got this, Carol."

Merle had meant it when he said that he had days of holding him to make up for. It seemed that Merle was always holding his son if he could help it. He wanted to have him in his arms all the time, but there were times he couldn't. Breast feeding, diaper changing, when he was sleeping. Merle was antsy whenever one of Carol's friends would be holding him or if Daryl was holding him. The first time Rick had asked to hold Merle Jr from Merle, Merle had actually told him to get his own son. Everyone had laughed at that and Merle ended up giving Rick Merle Jr after getting a glare from Carol, but he didn't want to give up his boy. Merle Jr always found his way back to Merle, Merle made sure of it.

"You know, it's okay to let other people hold him." Carol said after Merle Jr had been bathed and put to bed in his nursery. She climbed into bed with him, wrapping both of her arms around his waist to make sure he stayed in the bed. Merle snorted and glanced down at her.

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I have to." Merle said as he leaned against the headboard, looking down at an exhausted Carol. She looked up at him and pressed his lips against his bare chest over his heart, burying her head into his neck.

Carol smiled, thinking of far their relationship had come. Hell, she hadn't thought that she and Merle would even last this long. Even after she got pregnant, she had thought they wouldn't last. They fought so often she didn't think he'd stick around. But he did, Merle Jr had changed him for the better. Carol looked up at Merle and ran her hand up his chest, running her fingers through the thin hairs on his chest. "I love you." Carol said, realizing that she hadn't said it in a long time.

Merle's lips twitched up in a smile and he looked down at Carol. "I love ya too." He said and leaned down to press his lips into hers. Carol smiled and curled up at his side, falling asleep quickly in his arms. When Merle was sure that she was asleep, he climbed out of the bed and went into Merle Jr's nursery, lifting him out of the crib and sitting in the rocking chair in the corner of the room. "Listen, kid." He started even though he knew that Merle Jr couldn't understand him. "I ain't always gonna be tha best Daddy. I'm gonna piss ya off, piss yer Momma off too. Might not always be the nicest either, but I ain't ever gonna do you wrong like my Daddy did me. And I ain't ever gonna let anyone hurt ya. Ain't ever gonna run out on ya. Ain't ever gonna make ya feel like yer shit." He promised, looking down at his sleeping son. His voice hitched in his throat as he spoke. "Swear on my Momma's grave."

Carol woke up a few hours later and sat up in bed, noticing that Merle wasn't in the bed anymore. She rolled her eyes playfully at the empty spot in his head and climbed out of the bed, walking out of their bedroom and standing in the doorway to his nursery. Merle was sitting in the rocking chair with his son in his arms, humming a familiar song.

Carol Lucas had never wanted to be someones girlfriend or someones mother. But she was happy that that all changed the day she met Merle Dixon.


	5. The Outsiders

**I have such an obsession with Carol/The Dixons loving the book emThe Outsiders./em It's one of my favorite books and I really believe all three of them would love it. I don't know where this came from but it came to me a few weeks ago. This might actually end up as an actual fic, it might not. I don't know. I also have a thing for Carol being a teacher, especially an English one. **

**Also, this basically merges season three and season four. Karen and David had come to the prison from another camp and the virus broke out and Carol killed them, etc. She was found by the Martinez and Merle who recognized her and took her to Woodbury in hopes of finding out where Daryl is. Carol was able to tell, like Michonne, that the Governor wasn't trustworthy and she went looking for proof (probably the heads or something idk what she found really) and after finding the proof, knew that once he found out about the prison he would do anything to get it - especially kill. So she decides to get close to the Governor from the inside and kill him then. I thought about this idea a lot.**

**_I do not own The Walking Dead and I do not own The Outsiders. Credit to the Outsiders goes to S.E. Hinton. The quote comes directly from her novel._**

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Carol returned to the apartment she was sharing with Merle Dixon and shut the door behind her quietly, removing her jacket and setting it down on the table. Upon seeing his boots by the door, Carol realized that he was home. She wanted to talk to Merle, they hadn't talked much since the Governor told Merle to let her stay with him – she was sure it was so that Merle could keep an eye on her. She didn't tell Merle about her plan to take down the Governor from the inside and she wouldn't tell him for a while. He might be Daryl's brother, but he's still the Governor's right hand man. She stopped when she noticed him in the other bedroom in the apartment, the door was wide open. She was surprised that he left it open but she figured he must not have thought she'd be home for a while.

Merle Dixon was sitting on his bed, long legs crossed as he sat up against the frame. She was surprised to see glasses sitting on his nose and she briefly wondered where the hell he'd gotten glasses from or if he'd always had them. It didn't seem very Dixon like to wear glasses. What surprised the Carol the most out of everything was the fact that he lying in bed reading a book. From her spot at the door she couldn't see the book that was in her hands and she couldn't help but be curious. She had to admit she didn't even know if he knew how to read – Daryl had told her that for a long time he didn't know how to read, that he hadn't learned how to read until he was eight years old. Just as she was about to turn away from the door, Merle Dixon looked up and cursed loudly.

"Shit, woman." He slammed the book shut and pushed it to the side, pulling the glasses off his head and setting them on the end table. "Don't ya know better than ta sneak up on a man in the goddamn apocalypse?"

"Don't you know better than to _let_ someone sneak up on you in the goddamn apocalypse?" She countered, leaning against the door frame. "What were you reading?" Carol never thought she'd see the day where Merle Dixon looked _embarrassed _but there it was, a redness forming on his face. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone I caught big bad Merle Dixon reading." Carol teased, a small smile forming on her face.

Merle snorted and nodded towards the book before he spoke. "It's __The Outsiders__. My favorite book when I was a kid. Hell when I was a kid, it was one of the only book I read." They made eye contact for a few seconds before she took a deep breath and started to recite from the book.

"Ponyboy, I asked the nurse to give you this book so you could finish it. The doctor came in a while ago but I knew anyway. I keep getting tireder and tireder. Listen, I don't mind dying now. It was worth it. It's worth saving those kids. Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for. Some of their parents came by to thank me and I know it was worth it. Tell Dally it was worth it. I'm just gonna miss you guys." Carol's voice broke for a second and she thought about the letter related to what she had done, that it was worth it. It was worth it and no one could tell her otherwise. She continued on, taking a deep breath.

"I've been thinking about it, and that poem, that guy that wrote it, he meant you're gold when you're a kid, like green. When you're a kid everything's new, dawn. It's just when you get used to everything that it's day. Like the way you dig sunsets, Pony. That's gold. Keep that way, it's a good way to be. I want you to tell Dally to look at one." Merle Dixon stared at Carol with a look of wonder on his face. He hadn't figured that she would know the book. Hell, he figured Carol would be into something like __Gone with The Wind__ or __Pride and Prejudice__or some shit like that.

"He'll probably think you're crazy, but ask for me. I don't think he's ever really seen a sunset. And don't be so bugged over being a greaser. You still have a lot of time to make yourself be what you want. There's still lots of good in the world. Tell Dally. I don't think he knows. Your buddy, Johnny." The two of them were silent for a few moments before Merle spoke.

"Guess you've read the book a few times." A grin broke out on Carol's face.

"Before the world went to shit, I was an English teacher for seventeen years. Teaching _The Outsiders_ was my favorite time of year." She shared with Merle, something that she never even shared with Daryl.

"Surprised yer husband let ya have a job." Carol laughed at Merle's comment and she moved closer to him, walking over to his desk and lifting herself up on top of it. Merle watched, his eyes shamelessly glancing over her body. She noticed it, but didn't say anything. Carol crossed her legs and reached up to run her fingers through her hair.

For a second, Merle wondered if he should have brought up her husband when she falls silent again. He watched her as she sat up on top of his desk, thinking about how the woman had changed. When they had first met, Carol didn't talk much, especially to men like him. She cowered away from him a lot and now she didn't even flinch in his presence. He knew that she and his brother had a bond, he could tell when he asked about Daryl. Merle wondered if that had changed her, if she had changed him. "Ed didn't have a job. He was lazy as hell, spent all his time drinkin' while I worked my ass to the bone just to come out and get my ass kicked."

"Ain't right what he done ta ya. Wish the fucker was alive so I could kill 'im myself." His statement surprises Carol for a second before she remembered that Merle faced the same abuse that Daryl had faced and that their mother had probably faced. Carol waved her hand to dismiss him and she shrugged.

"So what other books ya got in here?" A smile formed on her face as Merle waited for a moment before he sat up and reached under his bed to pull out a box that was filled to the brim with books.

"I never would have thought you would have been a reader." Carol said as he stood and carried the box over to it, sitting it down on the desk next to her. Carol glanced down at the box, surprised that there was so many books in it. She looked up at Merle, biting down on the inside on her lip.

"Used ta read ta Daryl when he was a kid. Seemed to help him deal with our Pa." Merle admitted, looking down at the woman.

Carol looked up at him and she realized something, something that she hadn't put together before. Months ago, Daryl had told her that it hadn't been his parents or a teacher that had taught him how to read but he never said anything else about it. She had thought maybe he taught himself how to read. She hadn't thought it would have been Merle who taught him how to read.

In that moment, she realized that Merle wasn't as different as Daryl as she originally thought. Just like Daryl, there was a good man buried under layers of a hardened man. She found the good man in Daryl, she could find it in Merle. Carol opened her mouth and the sentence that left her mouth surprised Merle.

"I'm going to kill the Governor." Merle stepped back from her and for a second, Carol wondered if he was going to kill her right then for saying she planned on ending the cruel mans life. "You know the kind of man that he is and what he's going to do once he gets to the prison. He needs to be stopped, Merle."

"He saved me. I owe him for that." He grasped at reason, Carol couldn't be able to kill the Governor. No one could kill the Governor, sometimes he even though that the Governor couldn't die. Carol was going to die if she tried this, especially if she did it alone.

Carol felt bad about what she was about to say, but she needed to hit Merle where it was going to hurt, she needed to bring up Daryl. "He wants that prison, Merle. He'll kill everyone for it, he can't expect anyone to believe he's going to just kick them out. Do you think that he's going to spare Daryl just because he's your brother? He's part of the prison family, he will fight for that prison. He will fight the Governor for that prison." Merle looked down at Carol, thinking about the words what she said. Carol was right. The Governor would kill everyone there if they fought him. "He's going to kill everyone there, including Daryl."

Merle knew the man the Governor was under the mask he put on. "You ain't gonna be able ta do it alone."

"So you'll help me?" Carol asked, standing to her feet so she could look Merle directly in the eye. Merle gave her a swift nod before he spoke.

"I'll help you."


	6. Carol's Boots

**Alright, so this came from staring at this photo I posted on fuckyesmerleandcarol (/post/82926459700) and deciding that Merle would most definitely love those boots. Then rooker92 continued to fuel my need for Merle to love her shoes. So that's where this ended up coming from.**

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Merle Dixon tied the laces to his boots up and stood to his feet, picking up his rifle as he rolled his shoulders. It was time for him to relieve whoever was currently on watch, he thought it was Glenn or maybe it was Rick. Whatever, he didn't care who it was all he knew was that he had to go do it. He would prefer to be at the fences, where the action was, but __no. __Rick had scheduled him to sit in a fuckin' tower and stare out at the fields around the prison.

Merle didn't know what Rick expected him to see, there wasn't anything to be seen but Walkers and woods. The Governor was dead, that threat eliminated by Andrea (at the direction of Carol) a long time ago. No one was going to try to avenge the Governor, not after Milton and Andrea had exposed everything about him. Woodbury had been happy to see him ago. Merle would have gone back to Woodbury after that, but there was something – someone – keeping him there.

There was nothing to be seen for fucking miles, but for the next few hours a field would be his only line of sight and he'd be alone with his thoughts.

Merle left his cell and walked down the hallway, noticing a stretched out form in a cell that he was very, very familiar with.

He started at her feet, at those fucking boots. The day Maggie brought those back from a run for Carol was his favorite day, he remembered seeing her buckle them up for the first time. He remembered unbuckling them for the first time. He loved those boots. Merle wondered if she'd keep them on if he asked. From her feet, Merle trailed his eyes over her long legs. His mind immediately went to having her legs wrapped around his waist (and propped up on his shoulders and wrapped around his neck), dragging his tongue across his lips. His eyes raked up her stomach and her breasts, thinking of the night before when her breasts had been bouncing in his face. He stared a little longer before he looked up at her face.

Maybe Carol wasn't the most beautiful woman he'd ever actually seen, before the outbreak he had been with a large number of women, maybe some of them were more attractive than the woman he'd been seeing the past few weeks. He'd been with a lot of women in his lifetime, but he'd never been as entranced with one as he was with Carol Peletier. Maybe he should feel bad about that, he was sure something had been going on with her and his little brother but when he'd noticed that nothing was ever going to happen between those two, he'd made his move.

Once again, Merle's eyes returned to her boots, where he continued to stare until he was caught.

"Jesus, Merle. What are you doing?" Carol asked when she had noticed him leaning against the bars. A blush had formed on the woman's face, she knew Merle had been there a while just watching her.

Merle looked up at her face, his top lip twitching upwards. "Keep those boots on tonight." He said with a wink as he pushed off the bars and started to walk down the hallway.

Carol frowned and stood to her feet, walking out of her cell and watching Merle as he retreated towards the entrance of the prison. She opened her mouth to call after him, to ask what he meant by that but there were several other people in the prison and no one knew that she and Merle were together.

(( line))

"__Remember what I said earlier. Keep those boots on." __Of course Merle would say something like that when they were in front of other people and she couldn't say anything to him about it. Sometimes she really hated Merle Dixon. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about it ever since he said it. The way he looked at her when he said it, she knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted her to keep those boots on when they fucked tonight. She dragged her tongue along her lips as she lied in bed, waiting for everyone to fall asleep.

Carol had stripped herself of her clothes, lying on the cot in nothing but her boots, a pair of sleeping shorts and a t-shirt. Long ago Carol had stopped actually wearing her bra or her underwear whenever she went to see Merle. She met him to have sex and the pairs of bras and panties she had was not sexy, she knew that showing up with the disgusting items that were once called lingere could quickly put Merle out of the mood. And she needed this as much as Merle did. Carol hadn't realized she needed it so much, but she did. The nights they didn't meet up always put her out of sorts the next day.

When Carol was sure that those that weren't on watch outside the prison were asleep, she climbed out of her bunk and walked as carefully as she could to two floors above where Merle's cell was. He wanted his cell to be far away from the other people in the prison and everyone there was more than happy to allow him to have one of the cells floors above everyone else. Most of the people there are the prison didn't care much for Merle Dixon, thought that Rick should have left him out there, even if it meant losing Daryl. Merle proved himself, earned his place at the prison but it didn't stop people from disliking him or distrusting him. He was a rough man, wasn't easy to get along with. Half of the time, Carol barely got along with him.

She stopped at his cell and pulled open the curtain, stepping inside to stand in the door way. Carol bit down on her bottom lip and looked at Merle as he lied on his back. He was lying on the cot with his arms above his head, body stretched out. Goddamn, she was so fucking attracted to him. Carol cleared her throat to get Merle's attention.

Merle lifted his head up and he looked up at her, smirking and sitting up as he noticed her in the dim light from his lantern. "Ain't ya the best sight a man could see?" He commented as Carol walked into the cell. His voice was low, he didn't want anyone to hear them. It was none of their business that he and Carol were shackin' up. They didn't need to know a damn thing.

Carol rolled her eyes. "You are just saying that because I am the __only __one who __would __fuck you. There are plenty of much more attractive women at the prison they just won't give you the time of day." She said as she walked over to him. Merle's arms wrapped around her hips and he tugged her onto the bed, her legs on either side of him.

"Oh yeah? Like who?" Merle asked. He wasn't looking to upgrade, as far as he was concerned he had the jack pot. But he had to know who she thought was more attractive so he could shut her down.

Carol licked her lips and looked down at him as she straddled his lap, her arms wrapping around his shoulders. "Maggie, for one. Andrea. Michonne. Beth. Karen. Sasha. Need I go on?" Carol asked, fingers grasping the shirt he was wearing.

Merle leaned up and growled. Alright, now he had to shut her down, make her know that yes Merle could have anyone, but he didn't _want _any of them. He wanted _her._ "First off, Maggie's with that Chinaman -"

"Glenn is Korean." Carol reminded.

"Whatever." He grunted. "Andrea and the black samurai are shacking up." Carol corrected him with Michonne's name, Merle shrugged her off. "Fuckin' little Greene." Beth, Carol corrected. "is a goddamn child. Karen's bumbin' uglies with that big black dude -" Tyreese. She corrected. Merle ignored her again. "And shit I just don't care much for Sasha." Merle said. "None of those fuckin' bitches compare to ya. Ya got wisdom, experience. Ain't none of those women more attractive than ya." Carol knew that Merle was just saying this shit so that she'd have sex with Merle, he didn't mean it.

Carol shook her head and licked her lips. "You don't have to say this shit so I'll sleep you, I'm already going to sleep with you." Her hands pressed against his shoulders, shaking her head.

"Shut tha fuck up, Carol." Merle grunted as he looked up at her. "I ain't ever gonna say shit I don't mean. Not shit like this, about you." He mumbled the last part just quiet enough that she couldn't even hear him as he wrapped a strong arm around her waist and lifted her up, lying her down against the cot.

She raised an eyebrow at Merle, at his words. They made her smile, made her feel special. "So every time you threaten to feed me to the walkers, you actually do mean it?" She asked, looking up at Merle.

"Fuckin' ya or not, get in my way, I'll push you front of walkers." Merle looked down at her, wondering when she'd shut up so they could get on with the fucking. Ever since he'd woken up from his nap and saw her in her cell with those boots, he had been hard, wanting to bury himself in Carol for hours.

She snorted. "Such a romantic." Carol teased, rolling her eyes.

"Ya want romance, ya go find Officer Friendly or my baby brotha." Granted, if Carol had up and decided to go after Rick or Daryl, Merle couldn't guarantee he wouldn't beat the hell out of either of them to make sure they knew that Carol was his. She was his and he had every intention of keeping her. If she up and decided that she needed to be romanced, Merle could find it in himself to do it, learn how to do it.

Carol pursed her lips and rest both of her hands on his chest, biting the inside of her cheek. He was right, she didn't want romance. If she had wanted to be romanced or courted, she wouldn't have started something up with Merle. She would have gone for someone like Rick or like he said, Daryl. "You're right. I don't want to be romanced. I want to be fucked."

Merle smirked. He couldn't romance a woman, had no idea how to do that shit and he'd probably only do it if push came to shove. But fucking, fucking he could most definitely do.

"Tell me something." Carol said, running her hands down his shoulders, bunching his shirt in her hands and began to push the shirt up his back. He grunted as she pulled his tank off, tossing it to the floor. Her nimble fingers ran over his broad, strong chest that was just as scarred as his brothers. "What was up with your comment about keeping my boots on?"

Merle craned his head back to glance at her legs that she had planted on either side of him, looking down at the boots. "I __really __like yer boots."


	7. Shotgunning

**Hello! Another drabble that's not a drabble at all. This idea came to mind while I was talking to my best friend, who was doing kind of the same thing on omegle with someone. Carol and Merle are both in their teens in high school in this one because AUs are my favorite thing to write if you haven't noticed. I don't love this one as much as I love the other ones but I'm posting it anyway. I hope you all have enjoyed the fics so far! **

**Major warning here: recreational drug use.**

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Merle walked up the stairs that led up to the balcony just outside of his girlfriends bedroom, walking over to the large glass door once he was at the top of the stairs. Merle pressed his hands against the glass, looking in through the sliding glass door. Carol was sitting at her desk with her head buried in a book, probably something for school. He snorted and reached back into his wallet, finding a busted credit card in there that he only used when he was trying to break into places, like he was doing now. He used it to jimmy the look open and stepped into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

Carol didn't seem to notice Merle's presence as she wrote in her notes, she must not have heard of him. He had no idea how he ended up bagging a smart, good girl like Carol White, but he had. She was a junior in high school, he was a second time senior. She was an honest to God Southern girl and Merle had been getting in trouble with the law since he was thirteen. Carol was ten times better than he could ever hope to be, but for some reason she liked him. Merle wouldn't question it. If he questioned it, she might come to her senses and leave him. He could pretend that he wouldn't care if they broke up, but he knew he would.

Merle walked up behind Carol, discovering that she had her headphones in. He stopped next to her and brought his hand up to push her dark strands from her face, tugging one of the ear buds out. Carol jumped in surprise of having her hair touched and she reached up to grab the hand near her face as she stood to her feet. When she saw it was nothing more than her boyfriend, Merle, she dropped his hand.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, glancing at her door. The last she knew of her father, he was still awake and her father would _not _be happy if he found Merle in her bedroom this late at night.

"Got back in town this morning, wanted to come see my girl." Merle said, wrapping his arms around Carol and pulling her body against his. Carol looked up at him and tried to prevent the smile that was forming on her face. She'd missed Merle when he was gone, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Carol bit down on her bottom lip. Her father was _not _a fan of her boyfriend, he had always hated him. He'd told Carol he didn't want Merle in their house, especially in her bedroom. Merle was from the 'bad' side of town, Carol was from the 'good' side. Merle Dixon was not the man that her father wanted his little girl dating, but he was the only one Carol wanted. Neither of her parents liked how serious Carol was about Merle, she was just barely seventeen years old, Merle was almost nineteen now. "My Daddy will kill you if he sees you in here." Carol warned.

Like that would ever stop Merle from coming to see her. He scoffed lightly and looked down at her, watching her face as she leaned against her desk. "Then don't let him hear ya." Merle smirked, leaning down to press his rough lips into her soft ones. Carol groaned and rolled her eyes, leaning up to press her lips into his as her hands ran up his back to wrap her palms around the back of his neck. Effortlessly, he picked her up and set her on top of the desk and her school books and wrapped his palm around the side of her neck.

Merle trailed his mouth over her jawline, kissing down her jawline. His teeth dug into her skin and she responded by pinching his neck. "I'm supposed to be studying." Carol said as Merle's mouth trailed along the side of her neck that was still available to him.

Merle smirked, lifting his head up to look at her. "Tell me to stop." He said. Carol's lips turned up in a slight smirk and looked up at him. "Yeah, that's what I thought." He said and returned his mouth to her neck. She shut her eyes and let her head fall back, biting down on the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from moaning out loud. She ran her hands along his sides and looked up at him, licking her lips. "Wanna see what I got?"

"Depends, what is it?" Carol asked, tilting her head to the side. Merle reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of weed, grinning when Carol pushed his hand back into his jacket. She giggled softly and leaned up to kiss his lips softly. "Plan on sharing, right?" She asked, pulling away from him and biting down on his bottom lip. Merle licked his lips and nodded, that was why he was bothering to show her. "You're gonna get me killed too if my dad finds you in here."

"Lets get out o' here then." Merle said, shrugging his shoulders like it was that easy. Carol looked up at him and climbed off the desk, walking over to the door and peeking out. She couldn't see any lights on, so she figured her parents had gone to bed. She glanced back at Merle and shut her door before walking over to her bed to fix it so it looked like there was a body sleeping in her bed. Merle chuckled as he watched her, slipping the bag back into his pocket. He walked back over to the sliding glass door and stepped out onto the balcony, figuring she wasn't about to have him walk out her front door. Carol pulled her blanket back up over the pile of pillows, shut her light off and grabbed her sweater, pulling it over her head as she stepped into a pair of beaten flip flops. Carol followed Merle out onto the balcony, sliding the door shut behind her.

Carol wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her lips into his again, her small hands grasping the back of his leather jacket. Merle wrapped one of his arms around her and tugged her body against his, leaning back against the railing of the balcony. They stood at the top of the stairs together for a few moments, kissing and hugging each other. They knew they could get caught easily standing out in the open like that, that was probably why they were being so open about their kissing right now.

As his hand trailed up her sweatshirt, Carol pulled away from him and grabbed his hand, walking down the stairs. He smirked and followed her like an obedient puppy wanting a treat across the yard, stopping under a large tree. He glanced up, noticing a decent sized tree house. He'd never noticed this before and he'd been there hundreds of time since they started dating a year and a half ago.

"When did this get here?" He asked as he got a nice view of Carol's ass while she climbed up the ladder.

"Always been here, you've never been anywhere but my bed." Carol said and leaned out to look down at Merle to make sure he was coming up.

Merle smirked as he started to come up the ladder, hoping the ladder could hold his weight. "There was that time in your parents bed." He reminded as he climbed into the tree house. Carol rolled her eyes and pulled the curtain down before turning to a corner to turn a lantern on.

"My parents had this built when I was six, my older brother was eight. This was my brothers for a while, where he hung out with his friends, brought girls up here. Then he went away to college and it became mine, I guess." She said, turning her head and glancing up at Merle as he crawled over to her, sitting next to her. "Normally just come out here when my parents are fighting." Carol mumbled as Merle reached around to pull her on his lap, adjusting and setting her knees on each side of him. "I don't even think they remember this is out here."

He looked up at her, frowning as he noticed the look of pain on her face. Merle didn't like seeing that kind of look on her face, he preferred it when she was smiling. "So we good out here?" He asked, his hands resting on the back of her thighs. Carol nodded softly and pushed his leather jacket off of his shoulders. Merle shrugged out of his jacket as Carol pulled her sweatshirt over her head, her mouth connecting with his neck. Carol bit and sucked against his neck as Merle adjusted underneath to pull the bag out of his pocket again, followed by his pipe.

"You know, I was a very good girl before I met you." Carol said as she pulled away from him, watching Merle as he dug a lighter out of his pocket, grunting in response. "Yeah, I was really good. I never got in trouble, I certainly never made out with a boy two years older than me in my brothers tree house." As Carol spoke about how much of a good girl she was, Merle filled his pipe up.

"It's always the good girls ya have ta be worried about. They're the ones easily corrupted." Merle grinned before taking a hit from the pipe. Carol playfully scoffed and rolled her eyes. Carol had been a good girl before she met Merle, she never did anything illegal, always got straight As without even trying, never disobeyed her parents. Then she met Merle and all of that changed. While Carol wasn't about to rob a bank or commit murder, she did break the law when she and Merle smoked together and whenever they had sex, she actually had to try to get As and she constantly disobeyed her parents now – mostly when it came to Merle.

Carol smiled softly. "Only when rude older men go out of their way to corrupt them." She said before Merle's mouth connected with hers, blowing the smoke into her mouth.

It went like this for hours. Merle would take a hit of the pipe, then he'd lean over and press his lips into Carol's blowing the smoke into her mouth then Carol would do the same. They stayed curled up together in the tree house, her arms wrapped him long after she'd stopped and Merle continued without her.

Merle and Carol laid on the hard floor of the tree house until the night sky broke and there were shades of pink and orange. Carol knew she needed to head back to her bedroom before her parents woke up. She was just about to open her mouth to tell him that she needed to go to her bedroom when he spoke.

"Feelin' good?" Merle asked, looking down at her. Carol turned her head to look up at him, took the pipe from him and took the last hit of the pipe. He frowned as she took the last hit of the little bit of weed he'd bought. She set the pipe down on the ground next to him and leaned back against his chest. She could afford to stay out there a little longer with him.

"I feel great." She said before dissolving into a fit of giggles.

Merle snorted and wrapped his arm around Carol's shoulder. "Yeah, I bet ya do."


	8. Ice Skating

**Requested by rooker92, Carol and Merle go ice skating when she can't sleep.**

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Carol rolled over in the middle of the night after the fourth hour passed with absolutely no sleep. She looked at her boyfriends form, knowing that Merle was fast asleep from the snoring that came from his body. Bringing her small hand up to his shoulder, Carol grasped his flesh and began to shake him. "Hey.. Merle.." Carol pulled Merle onto his back and set up on her elbows, looking down at him.

Merle grunted as his heard his girlfriends voice in his half awake, half asleep state. He opened one eye and looked up at her, able to make out her form in their bedroom that was only lit up by their television. Merle glanced over at the clock on the end table, groaning when he noticed the time. It was just after four in the morning. He rolled back over onto his side. "Go back to fuckin' bed, Carol." He had to work at eight in the morning, why was she trying to wake him up?

Carol pouted. "But I can't sleep." She whined, wrapping her arm around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. Merle opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her.

"And what exactly should I do about it?" He asked, hoping she was about to suggest that they have sex. They'd had sex before he fell asleep, but he could always go again. Merle could have sex then be ready for another round five minutes later.

Carol made a face and shrugged her thin shoulders. "We could go for a drive..." Merle frowned when she didn't suggest sex and he rolled over to lie on his back.

"Ya woke me up to suggest going for a drive?" He was very much unamused with her, staring up at her with a blank expression.

Carol smiled at her boyfriend. "What happened to 'We don't live in a very safe place, don't leave the house without me'?" Carol asked, remembering what he had told her when she moved in. Merle groaned and looked up at her, knowing she was right. That's exactly what he had told her, not to leave the house without him. In the morning when Carol left for work or when she left to go shopping or see he friends, he walked her down to her car. The neighborhood that they lived in wasn't the safest. He didn't want Carol leaving the apartment by herself, not for a lack of trusting her but for a lack of trusting those who lived around them. He just wanted to protect her. As her boyfriend, that was his job right?

"It's four in the fuckin' morning, Carol." She bit the inside of her lip and sighed. The woman shrugged and sat up, leaning back on her palms.

Really, she knew exactly how to get Merle out of bed and go with her. "Fine, I'll just go by myself." Carol said as she climbed out of the bed and picked up her discarded underwear and pants. "I hope I don't get kidnapped." She said as she dressed. He glanced at her and frowned. He couldn't let her get kidnapped. She was damn good looking, she'd get snatched up if she went out on her own.

Merle growled and sat up, pulling the blanket off his body and exposed his own naked body. "Yer a real bitch, ya know?" He mumbled. Carol grinned and crawled onto the bed, pressing her naked chest against his bare back. He glanced back at her, smirking at the feel of her breasts against his back.

"Yeah, and you love me for it." She said and leaned forward to take his earlobe in-between her teeth and gave it a firm tug. "When we get back, you can call into work and stay in bed with me all day... Tire me out."

Merle craned his head back to look at her. "Can't I just do that now? Wear you out real good, get into the box under the bed..." He watched as his girlfriend bit down on her bottom lip, clearly thinking over the offer.

Carol grinned and pressed her lips to his cheek. "Nope." Carol climbed off the bed and picked up her t-shirt, pulling it over her head. Merle watched her for a moment, shaking his head before he dressed.

Merle grumbled about Carol being a bitch again, which only caused her to laugh. She left the bedroom and went out to their kitchen, waiting for Merle. He walked out into the living stifling a yawn, picking up his car keys. He walked over to her and pushed the keys into her hand. "Yer making me get out of bed for a four in the morning drive, ya can drive me around."

"Oh you certainly are not completely awake yet." Carol giggled softly and she stood on her tiptoes and leaned up to press her lips into his briefly as she took the keys from him.

Merle followed Carol out of the apartment, staying close to her. He knew the people that lived in the apartment building – he'd sold drugs to (and bought drugs from) the people that lived here. He knew them and that was exactly the reason he didn't want Carol leaving the apartment by herself. They'd thought about moving somewhere else, but this was the only place they could afford. The rent was cheap, it was why he had rented this place anyway. He'd love to move out of here, give Carol a good home for them to really start their lives together, but for now that just wasn't an option for them now.

They drove around for a while, Merle's hand resting on top of her thigh as she drove. He was barely paying attention, slumped back into the passengers seat of the car. He was half asleep while Carol drove, listening to her talk. Carol had no idea where she was going, but getting to get out of the apartment felt good, did wonders to soothe her nerves out. She didn't know why she had been so worked up lately, but for the last few days she'd been so wound up. She drove around for a little while longer until a sign caught her attention. She pulled the car over to the side, a grin forming on her face.

"Why ya pull over?" Merle asked, turning his head to look at Carol. His eyes followed her line of sight and he snorted. "Fuck no. Don't even think about it, Carol." He grunted, looking at the sign for the ice skating rink. Carol turned to look at him, pushing her bottom lip out in a pout. Crap, if she continued to pout like that Merle knew that he would easily give in. "Don't fuckin' look at me that way. I ain't doin' no god damned shit tha' involve fallin' on my ass like a goddamn fool." Carol let out a childish whine, bouncing her feet on the ground.

"Come on, Merle. It's being torn down in a few days anyway, I'm sure it'll be easy to break into." Carol said, glancing back at the old ice ring. She turned back to look at him, reaching over to slip her hand against his inner thigh. "Please? I haven't been ice skating since I was a teenager, I might fall on my ass a bunch of times." She gave his thigh a tight squeeze, batting her eyelashes at him.

Merle looked over at her and looked down at the hand on his thigh. "I said I ain't skatin'."

"But you don't have to, you can just sit there and watch or take a nap." Carol pursed her lips and bit the inside of her cheek. When Merle didn't give in, she leaned over and whispered in his ear. "If you come in with me, I'll let you whatever you want from your suitcase. And I do mean whatever you want..." Merle smirked as she whispered in his ear, looking at her as she pulled away. There were still things that Merle wouldn't use on her because he didn't want to, he knew that they would cause her too much pain in ways he wouldn't want to. But there were things that he'd never used on her that he'd love to try.

She always knew how to get her way, he was so fucking whipped. "Alright, fine. Just to see ya fall on yer stupid ass." Carol grinned at Merle as she got her way, like she always did. She opened her car door and locked up the car once Merle was out of the car, walking across the street with him.

Carol kept watch while Merle picked the lock, following him into the abandoned building. Merle flipped a light switch on, the lights turning on one by one. Carol watched with a childlike wonder as the lights turned on the reveal the ice ring. When Merle glanced over at her and noticed the look on her face, he knew it was worth it. But he still wasn't putting on a damn pair of skates and making a fool out of himself.

Without looking back to see if Merle was following her, Carol walked towards the counter and went around it to find the right size for her feet. She walked over to the edge of ring and sat down on the bench next to Merle. She didn't bother finding his size, he might whack her with the skate if she had. "I hope ya fall. A lot." Merle said as he watched Carol strap the skate onto her feet. She turned to look at him and grinned as she stood to her feet.

"Love you too, Merle." Carol said before taking off.

From his spot on the bench, Merle watched her twirl around the ice skating ring. He snorted as she twirled around on the ice like she was a fucking ice princess. Of course Carol could ice skate, there wasn't a damn thing she couldn't do. Carol skated around the ring for a few moments before skating back over to Merle, standing in front of him.

"You ain't fallin' yet." He grunted, squinting up at Carol. Carol leaned her head back and laughed.

"Probably should have mentioned that I was on an ice skating team in high school." Merle scoffed and looked away from her. He watched as she twirled in front of him, annoyed but content with the happy look on her face. The look of pure joy on her face was a look he rarely saw. Their life wasn't easy together, really happy and perfect moments like this were rare. He decided that he'd continue to try to bring that look on her face every chance that he could.

"What kind of fuckin' school has an __ice skating __team in fuckin' Georgia?"

"My high school, obviously." Carol said as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "You sure you don't want to get out on the ice with me?" She teased.

Merle laughed at her. "Yeah, I wanna get out there and skate around like a fuckin' fairy."

Carol rolled her eyes at his comment. "You know, I can always pull out the safe word... At anytime." She said, resting her hands on his shoulders. Merle narrowed his eyes.

"Oh hell no. You only said I had to go in with you, ya said nothing about skating." Carol grinned as she pulled away from him and began to skate backwards.

"Haven't you heard, Merle Dixon? I'm a real bitch." She twirled around easily, staring at her in complete awe.

Merle lifted his finger up and he flipped Carol off, groaning as he stood to his feet and walked over to the counter. How did she always manage to convince him to do things that he didn't want to do? Thankful for the fact that his brother or any of his friends couldn't see him, Merle found a pair of skates in his size and walked back over to the bench. Merle pulled his boots off and put on the skates, staring at Carol as she returned back to the bench and held her hands out.

"Ya better not back out now." He grunted as he took her hands and stood to his feet, trying to gain his balance.

Carol let out a laugh. "I won't. And hey, you might have a great time." She said as Merle pulled himself up to his feet and tried to steady himself. Carol couldn't help but smile at the sight of Merle struggling to stand to his feet in the skates.

"Doubt it." Merle scoffed, finding it difficult to keep his balance. Why had he agreed to do this?

Carol grinned. "Don't worry, Merle. I won't let you fall." She teased as she skated backwards, pulling him back onto the ring.

Merle glared at Carol, hating how she just made him sound like a complete bitch. "You are in for a night of hell." He warned. His warning sent shivers down her spine, though she still didn't fear him.

"Safe word is pineapples." She reminded as she let go of his hands and skated backwards.

"I can choose to ignore that." He threatened.

Carol rolled her eyes. "You could. You wouldn't, but you could." She said as Merle attempted to skate forward. She grinned as he was able to move forward just enough to grasp the edge of the railing.

"Sometimes I really hate ya." He told her. Carol laughed softly and skated over to her boyfriend.

"No, you don't." She stated and grabbed one of his hands, turning around to pull him onto the ring. Merle cursed as he started to slip again, which only amused Carol. She tried to give him pointers on keeping his balance, but he wasn't taking any of her advice. He continued to fall, mostly without bringing her down. "There are a lot of things you can do, Merle, but this is not one of them." She teased after the fifth time he landed on his ass.

"Go fuck yerself, Carol. I can do manly things like hunt and fix cars. Course I can't do gay ass shit like ice skate." Merle growled. She rolled her eyes at his comment.

"You are a terrible person." Carol said.

"S'why ya love me." Merle winked. She grinned and agreed, Merle being terrible and crude was one of the things that she loved about him. Every little thing about him, she loved, even the things about him that made him a terrible person. They were what made Merle Merle and she wouldn't change that.

The tenth time Merle fell, he made a point to pull Carol down with him. She crashed against his body, cursing and praying that the ice wouldn't break under the force.

"You did that on purpose." Carol said, looking down at him. Her hands rest on his chest, his arms around her waist.

"A little." He grinned. Carol smiled and looked down at him.

"Thanks.. For this." Carol waved her hand around. Merle had risked jail by breaking into this building with her, just because she asked (because she blackmailed him with sex). But still, he'd done it, just to make her happy. "I know its out of your comfort zone." Merle's comfort zone included sex, doing drugs and eating food. Dates were never part of his comfort zone, especially shit like this.

Merle grunted at her and shrugged. "Fuck comfort zones… Anything for my girl." Carol smiled at his comment and softly pressed her lips into his. "Tell anyone I said some gay shit like that and I'll run ya over."

Carol looked up at Merle and snorted. "Love you too, Merle." Merle rarely told Carol that he loved her, had probably only said it under a dozen times since they'd gotten together. He'd say it in his own way, he'd say 'love you too', but he never came out and said 'Carol, I love you'. She didn't need him to, she knew. Carol grinned and stood to her feet. "Come on, let's go home." Merle sat up and watched her skate effortlessly over to the bench. "You can start working on tiring me out." She winked at him and grinned.

Merle Dixon had never gotten to his feet faster.

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**(This one has a prequel! It's Chapter Sixteen: Pineapples, which explains Carol saying "the safe word is Pineapples".)**


	9. Welcome to Woodbury

**So I've had something like this on my mind since a conversation with rooker92 and thaliasandy about The Governor and Merle finding Carol when she was banished, but I went a little out there with it. Carol had been kidnapped by Joe and his group while out on a run and was kept by them for weeks before she was able to get free (which is where this picks up). I don't know, I might end up continuing this. **

_**This is not related to the other fic I've posted about Carol being at Woodbury.**_

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Carol Peletier had been running through the woods for what felt like forever. She could barely breathe, her chest and stomach ached, her legs felt like jell-o. She felt like she was going to collapse on the ground and die right then. She was running from a group of men that had kidnapped her while she was on a run with Michonne, Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon and Glenn Rhee, a group of men that used her as a sex slave and walker bait. While they were asleep, she was able to get away from them and she had started running. Her hands were still bound in front of her, but she could deal with that when she thought she was somewhat safe.

She ducked behind a large tree and leaned against it, trying to catch her breath. She wondered if her group had been trying to find her, she'd been taken from them right under their noses. Carol had been stuck with these men for weeks if not months, she wanted to go back to the prison where even if she wasn't completely safe she wasn't being tortured and gang raped every day. If she wasn't going to be safe, she just wanted to die.

Carol began to try to force the rope around her wrists off, but Joe had tied her hands together tightly with what seemed like an impossible knot to break out of it. The ropes dug into her wrists and did nothing but cause more pain as she tried to break free. "Fuck." Carol growled, tossing her head back against the tree. She sat down on the ground and looked around at the trees around her. Carol had no idea where she was, no idea how she could get back to the prison or to anywhere safe. She was convinced that she was going to die.

She stopped moving when she heard several sets of footsteps around her. Figuring it was Joe and some of his men who had finally come for her, she didn't move. She was just going to accept it. Maybe she could anger them enough so that they would just kill her. She would have rather thrown herself into a pit of walkers than to spend one more night with Joe and his group.

Carol hung her head down and let herself cry, something she hadn't allowed herself to do since she was taken from her group. She stared at the ground, counting the amount of rocks in front of her. When the footsteps stopped in front of her, she squeezed her eyes shut and prepared for the worst.

Whoever was in front of her was silent for a few moments. She had started to believe that she had just been hearing things and there was no one there. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A strangely familiar voice broke Carol out of her daze and she lifted her head up, turning her eyes towards the voice. A surprised, breathy laugh left her lips as she recognized the man standing in front of her. It was Merle Dixon, the man Rick had left on top of a rooftop. She'd heard that they'd gone after him, but found that he'd cut his own hand off to get off the roof. She'd thought he was dead, figured there was no way that someone could survive with no medical attention after that. "Bet yer _real _surprised to see ol' Merle, ain't ya?"

Carol had to be dreaming. "Merle?" Carol remembered how he acted at the quarry, he was a damn jackass. He was rude and high all the time, always causing trouble with everyone there. Everything about him was intense, she had been terrified of Merle Dixon. He didn't seem like he was high right now but Carol couldn't be sure about that.

"Ya look like hell, Mouse." He said and knelt down to get a better look at her. Carol looked down as she felt her hands being lifted up and she pulled her arms away from him when she saw the metal attachment on his right arm. Alright, if she was dreaming, she was sure dream!Carol would have given him his hand. Merle lifted his right arm up and looked at the knife, then at Carol. "Yeah, s'what yer buddy Rick did ta me."

She wasn't dreaming, she wasn't dead. She was still alive. She had a chance, but she needed to take it now. Remembering what she was doing sitting against a tree in the middle of the woods, Carol looked up at him with a terrified look. "Please help me. They're coming after me, I know it." She pleaded. Merle glanced at Carol, glanced at her appearance. She looked like hell, her pants were torn in most places, her shirt having purposefully been ripped in half. There were bruises covering her stomach and her arms and in the places that Merle could see on her legs. Merle used the knife attachment to cut the ropes apart, grunting when she let out a sob of relief and appreciation, he was barely able to make out a 'thank you' through her sobs. He took note of the blood from the way the ropes had cut into her.

"Merle, ya find somethin'?" She heard a deep voice say from behind him. Carol looked over Merle's shoulder and saw a dark haired man standing behind him. Merle craned his head back to look at the man.

"Woman. From the first group I used to be with. Names Carol."

The man walked closer to them and knelt down in front of her next to Merle. "Hell happened to ya, sweetheart?" He asked.

Carol swallowed and she looked around, breathing heavily. She knew they were coming after her, chances are they were close. "I was on a supply run with my group and these guys grabbed me. Kept me for weeks, tortured me, I got away when they were sleeping, they forgot to tie me to a tree when they went to sleep." Carol explained. Most nights, they found something to tie her up to to make sure she couldn't get free. When they'd completely forgotten to, Carol took that as a sign from God for her to get out of there. "Please... Help me." She pleaded.

He nodded, taking in Carol's appearance. She looked like fucking hell, like she'd been treated as a dog. "They do all that to you?" He asked, nodding to her appearance.

Carol nodded. "They're coming after me, I know they are. They're not just going to let me go. Please.."

Merle looked at the man who had joined them. "We can't just leave 'er out here, Governor." Governor__? What kind of name is that? __Carol thought to herself as Merle and the man spoke. A few other men that must be part of their group had come up behind them, looking down at the woman. Carol squirmed, fearing that this was going to be another group of the men she had just run away from him. There were so many men around her. Carol looked down at her hands and pulled the ropes off of her hands, cringing at the way it tore at her skin. She tossed the ropes to the side and looked up at Merle, just as Merle looked down at her.

Merle and the man he called Governor returned to her and the Governor leaned down to speak to her. "No one's gonna hurt you, sweetheart. Gonna take you back to our town, get ya cleaned up and back to good health, then you can leave if ya want. Okay?" Carol nodded and the Governor wrapped an arm around her waist to help her stand to her feet. "I got ya, ya gonna be okay." Carol leaned against the man, hoping she wasn't trusting someone she shouldn't right now.

The Governor walked Carol back through the woods with his men walking behind him, keeping her against him. They walked back to a Jeep and he climbed in the front seat. Merle sat next to Carol, allowing her to lean against him to hold her up. Without even thinking about it, Carol's head leaned against Merle's broad shoulder and she shut her eyes, quickly falling asleep next to Merle. She felt safe for the first time in weeks.

An hour of driving later, the Jeep stopped in front of a gate that protected a small town. Carol lifted her head up and looked at the town as the gate was opened. "What is this place?" She asked, looking at the town as they drove through the gate. This place looked like heaven, looked way too good to be true.

The Governor looked back at Carol and a charming smile formed on his handsome face. "This is Woodbury."

Carol found herself sitting in an apartment twenty minutes later, her arms wrapped around herself. She was in Merle's apartment, sitting on his couch. He'd gone off to get her some clothes from one of the other women in town, then he said he'd get some water for her so she could clean herself up.

Merle returned a little bit later with a pile of clothes held between his forearm and his chest, having set down the bucket of water just outside his door. Merle opened the door and picked up the bucket and entered his apartment, nudging the door shut with his foot. Carol was sitting in the exact same place he'd left her, she hadn't moved an inch. At first Merle wasn't even sure if she was breathing, she was so still.

She acknowledged him when he got closer, looking up at him. "Got ya some clothes." Merle said "Ain't sure what size ya wear, did the best I could." He twitched his head towards the bathroom. "C'mon."

It took a moment for Carol to pull herself to her feet and stand to her feet and followed him into the bathroom. It was a lot cleaner than she expected Merle's bathroom would be. Merle set the bucket in the bathtub, resting the clothes on top of the sink. "Just gonna be right outside in the kitchen, alright? Gonna make you something to eat."

Carol looked back at Merle. Normally she wouldn't have asked Merle of all people to help her, but she could barely move nonetheless take her shirt off. "Wait, Merle.." She said as he moved to leave. Merle turned to look at her. "Will you... Help me.." Merle raised an eyebrow at her.

"Need help getting undressed?" She nodded. "Ain't the most romantic way I been asked to get a woman nekkid." He attempted to make a joke as he walked over to her. Carol stared up at him, clearly unimpressed. "I hope ya ain't attached to this shirt." Merle said before using his knife to cut the back of the shirt apart. Carol jumped at the sensation as Merle pulled his hand away from her, glancing at her face. "Gonna be able to get yer pants off?"

There was no way in hell that Carol was letting Merle remove her pants for her. "Yeah.. Thanks." Merle nodded at her and he left the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Carol forced herself to undo her jeans off and push them off, kicking them away from her. She walked over to the tub and sat on the edge of it, picking up a wash cloth and dipping it in the water. Carol began to wash the dirt and dried blood and other bodily fluids off of her skin. The water was cold but it still felt incredible.

When she was finished, Carol stood to her feet and dried herself off then dressed in the donated clothes. The clothes fit well enough that she felt comfortable, though she still felt weird that she was wearing someone elses clothes. Hopefully she could convince someone that went out on runs to get her some actual clothes. She wondered about her clothes and her things back at the prison, hoping her friends and family hadn't just forgotten about her. She left the bathroom and walked into the kitchen where she heard Merle moving around in the kitchen. She leaned against the wall as she watched him prepare two plates of food, looked like it was just meat and potatoes. That was fine to Carol, it would be better than anything she'd been able to eat lately – she hadn't eaten a lot in the last few weeks.

"I didn't peg you to be so domestic." Carol commented. Merle glanced back at her, slightly startled. He hadn't heard her come into the kitchen.

"Figured yer hungry. Look like ya ain't eaten in weeks." He said, turning around and setting a plate on the table. Merle nodded towards the table and watched as Carol walked over to the table and sat down. She cringed, her body hurt so bad. She could really use with a massage.

"I haven't eaten in weeks. Least not much." Carol said. Merle grunted in disgust and sat across from her with his own plate. He ate silently and Carol leaned forward, picking up a fork and stabbing it into the meat. She could have cried when she took a bite of the meat. The men she was with had rarely fed her, they only gave her left overs and things that weren't good anymore. Having actual food, she could have burst into tears and hugged Merle.

"You're a lot nicer than I remember." Carol commented when she was finished with her meal. She wasn't sure exactly what kind of meat she just ate and she wasn't going to question it.

Merle let out a full laugh, leaning back in the chair. Carol hadn't thought she'd ever heard him laugh like that before. "A lot more sober than when I was at the quarry. Governor don't allow drugs."

"What kind of man is called the Governor? Does he actually have a name?"

Merle looked at Carol, shrugging. "Sure he does. I don't know it. Don't know if anyone does."

"Is he a good man?" Carol asked as Merle stood to his feet and picked up both plates.

"Saved you, didn't he? Basically carried you out of those woods 'imself." Merle had a point there. "Saved me too. Found me half passed out as I cauterized my own hand. Fit me with this." He waved his right arm towards her. "Yeah, he's a good man."

Carol opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a knock at the door before she heard the door open up. What was the point of knocking if you were just going to walk in anyway?

The Governor walked into the kitchen, looking at Merle who was leaning against the counter and at Carol still sitting at the table. "I trust Merle has taken good care of you." He said, nodding at Carol. He noticed that she'd gotten a chance to wash up and change her clothes. She was a very attractive woman after getting cleaned up.

"Very good care." Carol said, glancing at Merle, who had ducked his head. Carol wasn't sure if that was because the Governor was in the room or because Carol had said he'd taken good care of her. She turned back to The Governor, who hadn't taken his eyes off of her since he sat down across from her.

"You're welcome to stay here, Carol. We can clean out an apartment for you, get you a job to do. Everyone in Woodbury contributes." Carol's lips twitched and she smiled slightly. There wasn't any point in going back out there, Joe and his group would find her before she could find the prison. Here she would be as safe as she could be in the apocalypse. Maybe someday she'd see the prison family again.

"I would like that... Governor." She said, maintaining eye contact with him.

The Governor flashed another charming smile at her and he reached forward to hold his hand out for her. She leaned forward and accepted his hand, still watching his face as he shook her hand. "Welcome to Woodbury, Carol."


	10. You Found Me

**So this stems from a very lovely conversation I've been having for the last few days with pugster20 and we were talking about how we were going to believe that Merle had just left the prison and was living alone in a cabin waiting for Carol. Then this happened. So this chapter solely goes out to pugster20. Probably going to do a second part to this that's a prequel, but for now I'm leaving it where it is.**

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Carol had been walking through the woods for a while, following the instructions that had been given to her months before by Merle Dixon. He'd told her about the cabin during one of their late night chats after sleeping together, told her that if he ever needed to, that's exactly where he would go. He had found it while looking around with Martinez, checked it out and made sure it was safe. It was basically out in the middle of nowhere, she was surprised he remembered enough to make her such a detailed map and list of directions. He was a lot smarter than anyone ever thought he was, smarter than she even thought he was.

Merle had told her, after she confronted him about his plan to kill the Governor and leave the prison, that something was going to happen that was going to cause her to be outside of the prison. He told her that she and Rick weren't going to get along. When that happened, he told her to find him, told her that this was the exact cabin he was going to go to. He was sure that Carol would be able to find the cabin as he had directed her. Because, in Merle's opinion, he was never wrong.

She hadn't imagined that he would be right, that something would happen to cause her to be banished.

When she'd been banished, Carol had first been going from house to house in the area Rick had left her. She didn't know what she was going to, she couldn't try to go back to the prison to change Rick's mind. She didn't know what had happened there. He could have told a bunch of lies to everyone there, maybe he told them she'd died. Maybe he told them that she tried to kill him and that's why she was banished. Carol didn't know what Rick had told everyone, she just knew that she couldn't go back.

Carol didn't know where she could go. She didn't think she could go to find Merle, what if she found him and told him what happened and he rejected her too? She had to question it, had to think about it. It was hard enough having Rick, her close friend, banish her but she didn't know if she could manage if Merle had rejected her. But after the panic and fear passed, she knew what she needed to do. She had to find the only person that she could count on now. Hopefully he was still alive. If anyone could survive it would be Merle Dixon.

She followed the directions the best that she could, looked out for each of the signs that could tell her that she was going the right away. God, she hoped she was going the right way.

Carol Peletier stopped in her spot when she heard loud grunts, turning her head to focus on the noises. She didn't know if the grunts were those of walkers or something else, but she knew she was going the right way. She needed to keep going.

The grunts continued to get louder as she walked, she was sure now that they belonged to a person instead of a walker. She couldn't get her hopes up but she was sure they belonged to..

_Merle._

Carol stopped in her tracks when she saw Merle Dixon standing there, chopping wood as much as he could with only one hand. She covered her mouth and let out a heavy sob, leaning against a tree as she stared at him. He was there, he was alive, he was okay.

Merle moved to raise the ax in defense when he heard footsteps and heard noises, freezing when he looked up. _Fuckin' A. _Merle thought as he saw Carol standing there with her hand over her face. Christ, she'd done it. She'd found him, months later. He knew that she could. He lowered the ax as she came forward, moving slowly as if she was afraid to see how he would react to her presence. Carol dropped her pack next to the pile of wood, looking up at Merle. She wanted to plead with him to say something, say anything, but words couldn't come out. Nothing could come out but soft whimpers.

When his signature grin formed on his face as she was inches away, Carol lunged forward and threw her arms around his shoulders. He dropped the ax to his feet and allowed both of his arms to come around her, careful not to let the knife attachment cut her.

She pulled away just enough that she would be able to look up at him, taking in his features. His hair was a bit longer than the last time she saw him, awkwardly cut with one hand possibly even cut with the knife that was attached to his makeshift prosthetic. Carol pulled her hands from around his shoulders and dragged them down his bare arms to his elbows, across to his chest and up over the stained white tank, and back up to the back of his neck. Her fingers trailed up to his face and she ran her fingers over his facial hair. She grasped each side of his face and without speaking pulled him down to press her lips into his.

A rough moan escaped from Merle's mouth as her lips crashed onto his and he tightened his arm around her, his hand running up her back and lacing his fingers through her short hair. Carol's fingers wrapped around the back of his neck, holding him in place as their kiss deepened. He walked her back up to the nearest tree, pining her between his body and the tree. Carol gasped as she was pressed into the tree, her mouth parting open against Merle's. He took advantage of this and explored her mouth with his tongue, exploring every single inch of the mouth that he'd missed so much. She melted against him, soft desperate moans leaving her lips. Merle pulled away from her, staring down at her.

Carol reached up and bunched her fingers in the waistband of his shirt, tugging it out of his pants and pushing it up his stomach. He pulled away a bit further, removing the knife attachment and discarding it a few feet away from them. She pushed the shirt up over his stomach and over his chest, Merle tugging the shirt the rest of the way off. Carol tugged her jacket off and tossed it away from them. Merle crashed his lips against hers again as he began to pull her shirt over her head, smirking when he noticed that she wasn't wearing a bra. Bras weren't that easy to come by and Carol preferred to not wear one anyway. Her breasts were small enough that she didn't need one.

She trailed her hands down Merle's stomach and connected with his cargo pants, undoing his belt and his pants. Her mouth connected with Merle's again as his hands quickly undid her pants, breaking away from her to kneel down to pull them down off her legs. He pulled them off over her boots, wanting her to leave them on. He loved those fucking boots on her. Merle stood to his feet again and crashed his lips into hers, pinning her between the tree and himself, pressing one hand above her shoulder. They still hadn't said a damn word to each other, even though there was everything to say. It could wait, they had gone months without each other.

Carol stood on her toes to kiss Merle, her hand reaching into his pants to connect her hand with his cock. He was already semi-hard, he was as desperate for this was she was, it didn't take much at all for him to become fully hard. He growled as her hand continued to stroke his cock longer than she needed to, pulling her hand away from him and pining her hand above her head with his stump. He pushed his pants down to his knees and effortlessly lifted Carol up in his arms, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist. Merle pressed her into the tree as gently as he could as Carol reached between them to grasp his cock again, guiding his cock towards her entrance. He growled, grasping the bark under his hand and he pushed into her.

A soft cry escaped from her lips as Merle filled her, pushing his cock inside of her to the hilt. He covered her mouth with his, needing to keep her quiet. They were out in the open, it would be easy for someone – something – to find them. Merle knew exactly how loud she could get, knew that her noises could easily attract a human or walkers. But he was not about to stop what was going on just to go inside. Besides, even though he would not admit this, Merle knew it wasn't going to last long. It had been months since he'd been buried inside of Carol, he'd almost forgotten what she felt like.

Merle growled against her mouth as he slowly began to thrust into her, pushing her against the tree with each thrust. Each time he entered her, it slammed her into the tree, scratching her back. Maybe she should have kept her shirt on, but Carol didn't give a shit about the scraps. Carol's nails dug into his shoulders as his thrusts picked up in pace. The tree dug into her back, her legs tightening around his waist and digging her heels into his back. Merle could swear that she was crying out his name against his mouth, her hips jerking into his desperately. Christ, she felt so fucking good around his cock, he knew that he fucking missed her but he didn't realize to the extent that he had missed her. It was more than missing sex with her, it was missing everything about her. Her smell, her taste, her voice, her laugh, fucking Christ, he had missed her. He felt like a fuckin' pussy anytime he thought about Carol and his stomach would ache in pain over how much he missed her but it didn't stop him from missing her.

He dropped his head into her shoulder as he thrust into her repeatedly, her chest arching into the air to relieve some of the pain from being slammed into a tree repeatedly. Merle's mouth connected with her neck, sucking and biting against her flesh. He reached between them with his hand to massage her clit with his thumb, growling against her neck. Carol tried as hard as she could to control her moaning, she didn't want to draw the attention of any walker or person, but she was finding it harder and harder for her to stay quiet with the way it felt having his cock inside of her. Much like Merle, she hadn't realized how much she missed him. Of course she _had _missed him and she knew it, but she hadn't realized how much she had missed him.

Merle's thrusts slowed briefly as he tried to hold on, tried to prevent his oncoming orgasm. She slumped back against the tree, hissing when the bark scraped against her already cut open back. His mouth dragged along her neck up to her jawline. When he'd been able to push back the orgasm, he started to thrust into her again, his right arm wrapping around her waist and tugging her against him. Merle's eyes dropped to look between them, to watch as he slammed into her repeatedly. He could watch that forever.

There was no doubt about it now, Carol was crying out Merle's name. It had been forever since anyone had even said his name, nonetheless moaned it like this. Actually, he didn't think anyone had moaned his name like this and had it sound so fucking good. And it sounded really good coming out of Carol's mouth. He wanted her to say it more, didn't care if it attracted a hundred walkers and it killed the both of them. He just wanted to hear her say his name. He angled his thrusts upwards, his lips twitching in a smirk when a louder cry of his name escaped Carols lips. He got exactly what he wanted.

The nails that were dug into his shoulders drag down his arms as he pushed her against the tree by thrusting into her. He hissed and he bit down on her shoulder as Carol clung to him, her walls clenching around his cock. Merle growled as she squeezed his cock, picking the pace up of his thrusts. Carol's fingers moved to grasp the short hairs on his head to force his head back to hers, pressing her lips into hers as she felt her orgasm boiling over. She didn't – and couldn't – control her orgasm, twitching and crying out against his lips as her orgasm racked her frame. Her orgasm was all that Merle needed and he came inside of her, the hand against the tree pulling several strands of bark off.

Merle slumped against Carol, ducking his head into her neck. Carol's arms went around Merle again and she lied her forehead against his shoulder, panting heavily as she tried to catch her breath. Tears were streaming down her face again, unable to believe that she was there with Merle. Even though she had followed his directions down to his sarcastic comments, she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to remember everything. But she had, and she found him.

They didn't talk, not after he'd pulled out of her and she stood to her feet. Not after they stared at each other for a while, not after they shared a handful of kisses. They didn't talk until they had both dressed, Carol careful to keep her back away from his sight. She knew he'd freak out at the sight of the blood.

Merle spoke first. "Ya found me."

Carol lifted her head up as she zipped her pants back up and she smiled upon hearing his voice again. "Did you ever doubt I would?" She'd doubted herself, thought she wasn't to find him. She thought she might die before she actually found him.

He looked down at her, his large figure looming over her. But there was a twinkle of amusement in his eye. "I ain't ever doubt ya for a damn second." Merle said, bringing his large hand up to her face and cupping the side of her face. Carol's tears returned again and Merle wiped them away, leaning down to press his lips into hers. "'Mon, lets go inside." He said, collecting the firewood he'd chopped up in one arm, carrying the ax with the other. Carol picked up her pack and followed him into the cabin, it was just as nice as he had described. She understood why he would choose this place out of all the places he'd come across.

"So what happened?" Merle asked after he'd built a fire in the corner fireplace and dug into his supply of food and found something for them to eat. It wasn't much, but it was something. He sat on the floor next to Carol, rolling his eyes when she looked at him. "Yer here, means ya got out of there, got kicked out." Carol could detect a hint of pride in his voice, he'd been right.

"I killed two people." She stated. Merle's head slowly turned to look at her and he stared at her with a look of shock on his face. She had turned back to look at the fire. There was a look of pain on her face, look of anger.

Okay that was surprising, he hadn't suspected that would be what got Carol kicked out. Merle brought the bottle of old wine up to his lips and he took a long drink from it. "Miss me that much?" He joked. Carol snorted.

"After you killed the Governor, we brought a bunch of people from Woodbury to the prison. People that wanted to come. A virus broke out... It presented itself as the flu, but it killed people within a day. We were down to two people that were infected." Carol stared down at her legs, sighing. "It was what had to be done. But it didn't work. Glenn got sick after that, some other people did do. I don't have no idea how Rick figured out it was me, but.. He did." Carol took a deep breath and continued. "I told Daryl that I'd done it. Told me to keep quiet, deny it if anyone asked." Merle frowned. Of course his little brother would tell her to keep her mouth shut, whenever they got in trouble as kids Merle always told him to keep his mouth shut, let Merle take care of it. Him telling her to keep quiet was his fault. "But I couldn't do that. I did it. I killed them, I had to own up to it. So when Rick asked, I didn't deny it." There were tears in her eyes again and Merle didn't know what the tears were about; what she had done, the fact that it didn't work, what Daryl said or Rick banishing her out.

Merle didn't know what brought the tears to Carol's eyes but he wanted to kill whatever brought them.

Merle clenched his hand in anger, slamming the wine bottle down on the floor. Carol gasped and jumped, glancing over at him. "'Course he told ya to keep it fuckin' quiet." Merle was angry, angry at Daryl, at Rick, angry at everything. "So what, did Rick just open the gate and kick ya out?"

"No.." Carol said softly. "Took me out on a run and surprised me. Gave me half of the supplies we found, which wasn't much, and a car that broke down quickly. I don't think he thought I would survive out here." It made her sick to think about, had Rick left her out there in hopes that she wouldn't survive? She thought about it a lot, but she didn't think that he would do that. Granted, he had left Merle on a rooftop to die. Went back for him, but he still left him there. Carol wondered if Rick ever considered going back for her. She doubted it.

Merle stood to his feet and began pacing the length of the living room before moving into the kitchen. He leaned over the table and repeatedly stabbed his knife into the table. Carol gave him a moment to deal with his anger before she stood to her feet and followed him into the kitchen. She came up behind him as he leaned over the table and she touched his back as the knife came down into the table.

"He left ya out there for fuckin' dead." Merle growled. "I oughta go out to the fuckin' prison and bash his goddamn head in." He looked back at her, anger etched into his worn face. Carol took a deep breath, knowing that the anger wasn't at her but knew that Merle had a violent temper. She didn't fear him, but knew she did have to tread lightly right now.

"Rick might not have thought I was going to survive, but I did." Carol came around Merle's side and moved to stand between him and the table, pressing her hands against his chest. "It took a few days to get my bearings, but I survived." Merle glanced away from her, but she grabbed his strong jaw with her hand and turned his head back to look at her. "I've survived everything that this world has thrown in my path." His eyes glanced away from her, looking down at the floor. "My husband, losing my baby, losing you. Little something like Rick kicking me out of a prison can't kill me." She stood behind the table and Merle, letting go of his jaw and setting her hand on his chest. "The world is going to have to try ten times harder if it wants to kill me."

Merle wrapped his good arm around her waist, keeping his other arm pressed into the table. "You found me." Merle said again, like he was having trouble believing that she was here right now. A part of him was having trouble believing it, he'd dreamt of Carol finding him every single day since he'd set up at the cabin. His dreams normally ended just before he could get his hands on Carol, so maybe this wasn't a dream. If it was, it was his most cruel yet.

Carol ran her hand down his chest and wrapped her arm around his waist, looking up at him. "Yeah, I did." A slight grin formed on Merle's face and he looked down at her. "I have missed you... So much." Carol said softly, bringing her hand up his back and over his neck, through the short strands of his hair. "I didn't realize how much I had."

Merle ducked his head as he told her that he missed her and when Carol leaned up and pressed her lips into his again, he knew it wasn't a dream. He would have woken up before she threw her arms around him if it was. Merle lifted Carol up with one hand and set her down on the table, once again removing the knife from his metal prosthetic, tossing it on the counter. Carol smirked as he did so, reaching forward to tug his shirt out of his pants, pulling it over his head and tossing it across the room.

"For two old people, we sure have a lot of sex." Carol commented as she undid his belt, button and zipper. He let out a dry laugh, he could be sixty years old and he'd want to fuck. Merle pushed her hands away from his pants and he reached down to pull her shirt over her head, tossing it to the side. Unlike last time, Merle was going to take his time with her. He leaned down and wrapped his lips around her nipple, softly sucking the bud into his mouth. It hardened almost immediately, bringing his hand to her other breast. He massaged it under his hand, remembering everything about her breast. "Oh..." Carol trembled under his touch and arched her breasts into his mouth, resting her hand on his shoulder.

Merle nibbled on her nipple, tugging it in-between his teeth and giving it a nice tug. She yelped and let out a soft giggle, dragging her fingers against his shoulder. She scratched his skin softly, watching as he sucked and licked her nipple. Carol threw her head back and ground her hips towards his, trying to find some sort of friction. Merle was just out of reach. She whined and curled her toes inside her boots, wrapping her knees around the back of his knees and trying to push him closer to her. Merle switched breasts, his hand on her left one and his mouth on her right one.

Carol whimpered softly as he switched breasts, leaning back against the table until her back pressed into it. The cold table felt incredibly good on her cut up back, which she really knew she needed to tell Merle about the cuts on her back so they could get clean. Maybe later.

When she lied back on the table, Merle licked his lips and took in the sight of her body, running his hands down her breasts and over her stomach. She was far too thin, he could feel her ribs under his rough fingers. He felt an overwhelming need to get his gun and go hunting, bring her back a big buck to eat – after wasting all of his energy fucking her. Merle ran his fingers over her stomach, resting his fingers over the waistband. Carol laced her fingers through his and Merle used her hands to pull her up, wrapping an arm around her.

"The fuck is th.." Merle felt the cuts on her back and he turned his head to look at her scraped up back. "Fucking hell, Carol, the fuck is that?" He asked, touching the cuts.

"You fucked me against a tree, what did you think would happen?" Carol asked in a soft tone. Merle glanced at her and then back to her back. "It's fine."

"Ain't fine. Yer fuckin' bleeding." He growled. Carol reached back and grabbed his hand. He did that to her, he caused those cuts on her back. Fuck, he hadn't treated Carol any better than his Daddy treated his Mama, a nasty cycle he had worked so hard not to repeat. Even when he was on drugs, he never even dreamed of putting his hands on a woman.

"Merle, stop. I'm fine. I'm not bleeding anymore."

Merle ignored her and he pulled away from her, leaving her in the kitchen. Carol sighed heavily and she licked her lips, listening to him move around in the back of the cabin. He was making a lot of noise, slamming things around. She shut her eyes and didn't move from her spot on the table. Merle returned to the kitchen, holding a bottled water in his hand along with a towel that wasn't covered in dirt. He walked up behind her, pouring the water onto the towel.

Carol jumped when she felt Merle press the towel onto her, wiping off the dried blood and dirt. At times she cringed, it was a bit painful.

When Merle finished, he set the towel and water bottle on the counter and checking out her back. Clean, it wasn't bad at all, it just looked like she scraped her back up. The blood and dirt made it look so much worse. Merle brought his mouth to her shoulder, peppering kisses along her shoulder. Carol smiled softly as she felt his lips on her and she let out a soft moan. She loved the way his lips and facial hair felt against her skin. It tickled, but it felt really good either way.

Carol glanced back at him. "Do you feel better?" She asked. Merle nodded against her skin and he came back around to look down at her, standing between her legs. Carol looked up at him before he leaned down and pressed his lips into hers. She wrapped her arms around his waist and shut her eyes, melting into his touch. Merle wrapped her legs around his waist and effortlessly picked her up in his arms, carrying her back to the one bedroom. Carol was surprised when she was dropped on a soft large bed.

A pleased moan left her mouth at how soft it was and Merle smirked. "Think ya just moaned louder for my bed than you have for me."

"Oh now we know that isn't true..." Laughter escaped from Carol's lips as Merle climbed onto the large bed next to her. "But the other places we've had sex were not exactly comfortable. Could you blame me?" Carol said, looking up at Merle as she sat up on the bed and scooted back to the headboard, leaning against the hard wood. It was cold against her back and she hissed slightly, her back arching. Merle crawled up the bed with a predatory look on his face. She shivered and raised her hips up, undoing her pants and pushing them down over her hips and down her thighs. Merle pulled them off the rest of the way, tossing them behind him as he sat up.

Carol sat up as Merle came towards her and she pushed his cargo pants down his hips and down his knees, wrapping her hand around his cock and slowly stroking the soft flesh in her hand until his cock was standing at full attention. She sat up on her knees and pushed her hands into his shoulders, pushing Merle back against the bed. He landed on the soft bed with a soft thud and a grunt, looking up at her as she straddled his lap. Carol leaned down and pressed her lips into Merle's, holding herself up by one hand, trailing the other one down over his chest and stomach to find his cock again.

She dragged his cock through her wet folds, a soft moan escaping her lips. Merle let out a groan and he went to instinctively thrust up into her, but he forced himself to stay still and let her have control over this. Carol lowered herself onto his cock, breaking her mouth away from his to watch as his cock buried in her pussy, grasping the pillow above his head. "Fuck..." Merle grunted and let his hips push up into hers. Carol rotated her hips into his, arching her back into the air. Merle ran one hand up her stomach, cupping one of her breasts in one hand. He really missed his other hand right now, wanted to feel both of her breasts in his hands at the same time. Carol covered his hand, squeezing his hand against her breast as she repeatedly rotated her hips against his. Merle wrapped his other arm around her waist and tugged her hips into his, pushing his hips into hers.

Leaning down again, Carol connected their lips again and let out a soft moan against his lips. "I love you." She said for the first time. She'd felt it for a long time, but she never said anything. She figured it was pointless, Merle wasn't going to say it back. He was a Dixon, they didn't show emotions very well. If Dixons did show emotions, she probably wouldn't be here with him right now. She'd be back at the prison, with his brother. "I love you so much."

Merle froze briefly, his arm tightening around Carol. He didn't want her to think that he didn't love her, because he did. Christ, he did. It was why he went out of his way to write her that note; to tell her that he wasn't going to take Michonne to the Governor and just wanted Rick to believe it, that he was going to kill the Governor, that if he succeeded he wasn't going to come back, that he was going to the cabin he told her about, that when she needed to to come find him. Of course he loved her. If he'd ever loved anyone but his brother, he loved Carol Peletier. He cupped the side of her face with his free hand and spoke against her mouth, just enough for her to barely understand her. "Love you too."

Carol could have died right there in that moment and she would have been happy. She shut her eyes, feeling tears forming in her eyes. She ducked her head down, resting her forehead against his chest. Her back shook with a sob and Merle frowned. They said I love you for the first time and she was crying now? He didn't understand women at all. Her movements now were slow and purposeful, her hips angled just perfectly so that Merle's cock would hit that perfect spot. "I was so terrified.. To come find you." She admitted. Merle's frowned deepened.

"Why tha fuck would ya be scared to find me?" He asked.

Carol scoffed, bringing her hand up to wipe her face off. She kept her gaze averted from his. "My closest friend, aside from your brother, kicked me out of my home for doing what was best. Told me he didn't want me around his kids, even though I'd been raising his baby more than he had been raising her." She explained.

Merle growled at the mention of what Rick had done. Man he would love to bash Rick Grimes' head in right now. "So? Did ya think I'd turn ya away too?" He asked with a slight grunt. When she didn't respond, Merle forced her to look at him. He was angry that she thought he would have turned her away, but he was angrier that someone had pushed her to the point where she would even think that he would turn her away. "Ain't nothing ya could do that would make me turn ya the fuck away. Waited too fuckin' long to have ya again to do some dick move like that." Merle said, pressing his lips against her forehead. "Ain't ever gonna do ya wrong like that." Carol pressed her lips into Merle's again, her hips completely stilling as they kissed. He needed to say that he loved her again, needed her to hear it, needed her to know. "I love you."

Long after they'd both came and fell into a pile of tangled, sweaty limbs, Merle was watching her. His arm was wrapped around her waist, stroking the soft skin on her hip. Neither of them had fallen asleep yet, but neither of them were talking either. The only thing that could be heard was the sounds of their breathing. They probably should have got up and gotten dressed in case they needed to fight off some walkers or people, but Merle had plenty of traps set outside. Hell, Carol was lucky she hadn't fallen into one of them.

Carol started to drift off, her breathing slowing down to the point where Merle didn't even know if she was alive. She curled up at his side and buried her head in his chest, her arms wrapped tightly around him.

Merle refused to let himself fall asleep, he thought that if he shut his eyes to fall asleep he'd wake up and find out that he had been sleeping, that this was the most elaborate and cruel dream he'd ever had. He'd already pinched himself repeatedly, trying to wake himself up now if this was a dream. Deep down, Merle knew this wasn't a dream. Carol had found him. They'd found their way back to each other, just like Carol had promised they would.


	11. Emma

**Hello! Back with another installment of 'Daddy!Merle taking over and ruining my life'. Mentions of Carl/Beth and Daryl/Maggie.**

**Happy reading, please don't forget to review and feel free to leave any prompts or ideas for a feature fic!**

**Thanks for reading!**

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"Mom? Can I talk to you?" Sixteen year old Emma Jane Dixon asked, leaning against the counter as her mother, Carol, prepared dinner. Carol craned her head back to look at her daughter and gave her a smile. Normally Emma was so busy with her school work and life with her boyfriend that she didn't spend a lot of time with her only daughter anymore.

"Of course, baby. Why don't you come break up the noodles for the spaghetti?" She asked, nodding towards the pan of boiling water. Emma nodded and walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a container of spaghetti noodles, walking back over to the stove. She opened the package and dumped out some noodles into her hand, breaking them and dumping them into the water. "What's on your mind, Emma?" Carol asked.

Emma pushed her brown hair from her face and bit down on her bottom lip, trying to think of how to tell her mother what happened. She knew her mother was going to be angry, but it was easier than her telling her father. Her father would go ballistic. She figured it would be best to tell her mother first then let her Mom tell her father. No one could control Merle Dixon's rage but his beloved wife. "Something happened at school..." She said as she broke another handful of noodles. Carol looked over at her from her place over the sauce and she frowned. The vague answer Emma gave her concerned Carol.

"What happened?" Carol asked, stirring her sauce.

"You know Stephen?" Emma had been dating a boy at her high school named Stephen for the last few months. Carol liked Stephen, he was nice enough for her little girl. Emma's father, Merle, however hated Stephen, hated every boyfriend Emma ever had. He wasn't good enough for his daughter, wanted to kick his ass whenever he came around. No one was ever going to be good enough for his little girl until someone was and Stephen was most definitely not good enough for Merle's only daughter. Carol nodded for her daughter to go on. "He um..." Emma reached down to grab the sleeves of her shirt and pushed them up, revealing two large hand prints. It took Carol a moment for her to turn to look at her again, a hand coming up to her mouth.

"What did he do to you?" Carol asked, feeling anger bubble in her stomach at the sight of the bruises on her daughter.

This was the part that Emma was dreading telling her Mom. "Lately he's been... Wanting to have sex. I've been saying no all the time and he... He hasn't been taking no for an answer." Carol took a deep breath and attempted to keep calm. There was a rage bubbling in her stomach that could only match Merle Dixons rage. Someone had she had trusted with the safety of her little girl had caused her pain, had hurt her. Stephen was lucky that she wasn't going over there with Merle's shotgun - would be lucky if Merle didn't go over there and bash his head in with his bare hands. "I broke up with him today, this morning. I was.. Fed up. He grabbed me and he... pushed me against the lockers and he.." Emma's voice broke and dropped her sleeves, crossing her arms around her stomach.

"Did he.."

"No..." Emma looked up at her mom. Carol let out a sight of relief, at least she hadn't been raped. "Carl walked in on us. He pulled him off and told Stephen if he ever came near me again, he'd tell his Dad what happened. Beat the hell out of him too." Carol's top lip twitched, she'd need to bake Carl cookies for that one. "I know I need to tell Daddy but.." Emma trailed off, losing her voice to the tears forming in her eyes.

"It's okay, Emma." Carol said and wrapped her arms rightly around her teenager, pulling her against her. She held her daughter in her arms as her daughter began to cry, clinging to her mother like she hadn't done since she was a child. "Shh, baby. It's okay, Mama's got you." Carol was trying her hardest not to cry, she needed to stay strong for her daughter. And if Merle came home and found both of his girls crying in the kitchen, there would be no preventing him from causing harm to the thing - or person - that had caused them to cry.

"Will you tell Daddy for me? I don't want to." Emma pleaded. Carol pulled away from her daughter and cupped the sides of her face, kissing her daughters forehead.

"Yes, honey. I will tell your father after dinner, once he's gotten food in his stomach and a few beers in him." Carol made a light joke. Emma smiled softly and jumped when she heard her fathers truck door shut. "Go upstairs, go wash your face off and do your homework." Carol kissed Emma's forehead again and watched as she took off upstairs, turning back to the stove.

Stephen had seemed like such a nice boy, how could something like that have happened? Thank God for Rick Grimes' son, Carl. Carl and Emma had been best friends since they were little kids, just like Carol and Rick had been friends since they were kids. A part of Carol had always hoped that Carl and Emma would find their way to each other, but after Daryl began dating Maggie Greene a few years ago, Carl had fallen for her little sister, Beth.

Carol took a few deep breaths as she heard Merle open the front door. She stirred the noodles and the sauce, turning the fire down low so she could leave the kitchen and walk into the entry way to greet Merle.

"Welcome home, honey." Carol said as she Merle shrugged his jacket off and kicked his shoes off. He set the jacket on the table by the door and turned to look at his wife.

"Hey, sugar." He said as Carol leaned up to press her lips into his cheek. "Emma home from school?"

"She's home. Doing homework." Carol said as she turned and walked into the kitchen. Merle followed her into the kitchen and checked out dinner before he walked upstairs to his daughters bedroom. He had some news for her that he knew that she was going to be so excited about it.

Merle knocked briefly on Emma's door and waited until she called out to him to come in. Merle opened the door and stepped into the bedroom, glancing around. His daughter was, in Merle's eyes, the most perfect girl in the world. She never gave him any trouble, not like he gave his parents trouble. Merle was thankful that Emma was more like Carol than him, he didn't know if he could deal with another him.

"Hi, Daddy." Emma said as Merle walked over to her, turning her head to look up at her father.

Merle rest his hand on her shoulder, briefly squeezing it. "Ya still up for that huntin' trip with yer Uncle Daryl?"

Emma turned her head to look up at him and she turned her whole body to face him. "Did Uncle Daryl agree to let me go with him?" She asked her face lighting up. She'd been begging her Uncle Daryl to take her hunting for the past year, but Daryl continued to tell her 'another time'. Daryl liked hunting on his own, preferred to do it alone and on top of that if he returned Emma to Merle in any condition worse than Merle brought her to Daryl, Merle would have his head on a platter.

"Took a little convincing, but Daryl agreed." Merle said, leaving his hands on his hips. Emma stood from her chair and threw her arms around her fathers waist, grinning.

"Thank you, Daddy!" She exclaimed. Merle chuckled and patted his back.

"Make sure to bring yer old man back a deer." Emma looked up at her father, flashing the signature Dixon grin.

"Bring you back the biggest one Uncle Daryl can carry."

"Oh, so yer gonna bring me a tiny little doe?" Merle teased at the expense of his little brother when he wasn't there to give his brother the bird. Emma laughed and moved to sit back down at her desk, turning back to her homework. "What are ya studyin'?" Next to her Mama, Emma was the smartest person he knew. Another thing he was glad that she got from Carol and not him.

Emma looked back to her Chemistry book, glancing up at her dad. "Chemistry. Bet you know all about that, don't you, Daddy?" Merle's former life as a drug dealer was no secret to Emma, Merle had always been upfront with it. In his eyes, the only way to keep her away from drugs was to let her know what it could do to you, so he was honest about his past with the drug, meth. He'd been damn good at cooking the stuff, but was even better at smoking it.

Merle made a face at his daughter and patted her back. "Funny, kid." He said, leaning down to press a kiss on her forehead. Merle left his daughter to her homework, returning to the kitchen were Carol was putting garlic bread in the stove. He watched her for a few moments before speaking. "Daryl said he'd take Emma huntin' this weekend."

Carol craned her head back to look at Merle and smiled. This was exactly what she would need, Carol knew that. Like Emma worshiped her father, Emma worshiped her Uncle Daryl just as much. "So, we're gonna have the house to ourselves the whole weekend?" Carol asked, raising an eyebrow at her husband.

"Friday night ta Sunday night." Merle said, leaning against the counter.

Carol looked back at her husband, watching the way he watched her. They'd been together for the better part of two decades, but they were still madly in love. "Hmm, I can't wait." Carol said and drained the spaghetti in a colander. "How was work?" Carol asked.

"Oh fuckin' great. Working on some dudes bike. It's a beautiful thing." Merle and Daryl owned Dixons Auto Shop in town, a fairly successful business. They'd opened it after Emma was born, both Dixons were damn good with cars and everyone in town knew that. If you needed your car fixed, you went to the Dixons brothers.

Carol looked back at her husband and smiled softly. "Maybe we can take a bike ride this weekend. We haven't done that in a long time." Merle loved motorcycles, loved his own even more. Carol always joked that he would marry the bike if he could. When he wasn't spending time with his family, he was in the garage building a new bike from scratch.

Merle smirked at his wife. "Read my mind, Carol." He said, pressing his lips against her forehead. "I'ma go work out on the bike until dinner's done, alright?" Carol nodded and watched him as he left the house and she let out a heavy sigh. She didn't know how she was going to explain her daughters break up to her husband and keep him from doing over there to kick his ass. She'd figure it out, figure something out.

After dinner was over, Emma and her father played cards in the living room while Carol cleaned up then joined them for the last few hands. Emma went up to bed after beating her father for the third time, wanting to get more studying done before she went to bed especially if she was going to go hunting with her Uncle this weekend. It wasn't until Merle and Carol were getting read for bed that Carol decided to explain what happened.

Carol sat on the bed and faced Merle. "We need to talk about something." He grunted in response, his eyes still on the baseball game on the television. "Merle." He glanced at Carol and noted the serious look on her face.

Merle turned the TV off, frowning as he looked at his wife. She looked serious. "Finally leavin' me, huh?" He joked.

Carol laughed. "No, Merle. You're stuck with me." She took a deep breath and sighed. "Emma broke up with Stephen."

"Fuckin' finally. Kid was no good." Carol licked her lips and let out a heavy sigh, beginning to explain to her husband why she had broken up with her boyfriend. By the time she was done explaining that he'd been pressuring her to have sex and had attempted to force her (to be saved by Carl Grimes) after she broke up with him, Merle was furious. He was shaking with anger. Carol rest her hands on Merle's, trying to keep her husband calm. She knew her husbands vicious temper, though she had never been on the receiving end of it. It was that temper that put Merle in jail before, cost him jobs and friendships.

Merle climbed out of the bed and he walked over to their closet, looking for his shotgun. "Merle, what are you doing?"

"Looking for my shotgun." Merle said. Carol climbed out of the bed and walked over to him, grasping her husbands arms.

"Baby, trust me, I would love nothing more than to let you go over there and shoot that motherfucker for putting his hands on our baby girl but you can't."

"Why not?" He grunted, looking down at his wife.

"Because Emma needs her Daddy. She doesn't need the badass with a vicious temper, she needs the man who cried more than she did when she broke her arm. She needs her Daddy." Of course, Carol was right. He couldn't go over there and threaten the kid, or cause him any harm. The only thing he could do was be there for his daughter, make sure she was okay.

Merle broke away from his wife and left their bedroom, heading down to Emma's room again. He leaned against the door and knocked on the hardwood again. He pushed open the door and looked in on Emma as she lifted her head up from the book she was reading.

She knew from the look on her Dad's face that her Mom had told him. Emma shut the book and set it on her bedside, looking away from him for a second. Her eyes filled with tears from the angry look on his face, even though she knew it wasn't towards her. "C'mere." Merle mumbled just loud enough for her to hear. Emma stood to her feet and walked over to her father, reaching her arms out and wrapped her arms around her fathers waist, burying her head in his chest.

Merle wrapped his arms around her, cupping the back of her head as Emma started crying. He tried his hardest to keep his emotions at bay, letting her cry in his arms. Tears came to Merle's eyes as his daughter cried. He was supposed to be able to protect her from things like this but he wasn't able to protect her from this, protect her from someone trying to hurt her. Merle'd never felt like a worse father than in that moment. He let her cry for a few minutes before leading her over to her bed. He sat in front of her and tilted her chin up to make her look at him. "Ya say tha word and I'll go over there with my shotgun to pay that fucker a visit."

Emma laughed softly. "Nah. I think Carl put the fear of God into Stephen enough. I haven't seen him look that scared since our first date and you and Uncle Daryl both sat there with shotguns." Merle chuckled to himself at the thought of it.

"Do it for every damn boyfriend ya ever have, don't care how old ya get. Always be my little girl."

"I love you, Daddy." Emma said. Merle stood to his feet and held his daughter against him again.

"Love you too, kid."

"Don't tell Uncle Daryl. I don't even think Mom could stop him from putting an arrow through his head." Merle chuckled as Emma climbed back into her bed.

"Naw. Daryl'd put an arrow through his dick." Emma began to laugh loudly, pulling her blankets over her body. Merle lingered for a moment, he needed to make sure she was okay. "I'm fine, Dad." Emma said as though she was reading her fathers mind. "You were right about guys, I guess." Merle snorted and sat on the edge of her bed.

"Ya know, I wasn't always the nicest guy." Emma nodded, she knew about her fathers past. She knew about his past with a biker gang, knew about his drug use. Emma knew mostly everything about it, what Merle was willing to tell her. She never had to experience it, her father had gotten clean long before she was even thought of. But she heard about it. From her parents, from her Uncle Daryl, from Uncle Rick and Aunt Lori, from people in town.

Emma choose her next words carefully. "Did... Did you ever do anything like that? Like what he.." Merle glanced at his daughter. While he had always been upfront about his past with drugs, he'd never really talked about the girls he'd been with. He knew there was going to be a time where she was going to ask about that, he just hadn't imagined it would be when she was sixteen.

"There was uh one chick I was dating. Well, it wasn't dating. It was... Sex and drugs." Merle said. "We'd fight all the time, then have sex again and do drugs. Sometimes she'd throw shit at me while we were fighting, I'd grab her arms and hold her so she'd stop throwin' and breakin' shit... But I ain't ever done shit like that before. I ain't ever hit a woman and I ain't ever raped a woman. Beat plenty of men to a pulp for doing the same thing back in my day. And I'll do it again without question." He looked at his daughter and pushed her hair from her face as she lied in bed. Emma looked just like Carol, there wasn't a trace of Merle in her – unless you counted her grin and her love of being in the woods. "Ya know why?"

"Because no one fucks with a Dixon?" Emma asked.

"Don't ever let yer Ma hear ya talk like that." Merle warned. Emma laughed softly. "But yes. Because no one fucks with a Dixon and no one fucks with my girls. Now get some sleep."

"Yes, sir." Emma smiled and sat up to kiss her fathers cheek. "Goodnight, Daddy."

"Night, Emma." Merle stood to his feet and left her bedroom, leaving the door open just a crack. He returned to his bedroom where Carol was sitting on the bed with a book in her hand. She looked up as Merle returned to the bedroom, watching as he climbed into the bed and pulled the blankets over his waist.

"Feel better?" She asked, shutting the book and looking at her husband. Merle glanced at her.

"Feel better if I got ta take my gun over there and make it clear that if ever comes near my little girl again, I will pull the trigger." He grunted as he lay down in bed. Carol set her book down on the end table, curling up at his side. Merle wrapped an arm around her shoulder, tugging her body against his.

"Ever wish we could have had another kid?" Carol asked, looking up at him. Carol had always wanted four kids, but the pregnancy with Emma had been hard and both of them had almost died. After that happened, they both took measures to prevent another pregnancy, they didn't want to risk that happening ever again.

Merle shrugged. "We got fuckin' lucky Emma turned out as perfect as she did. Probably good we only had one Dixon, hell knows how others would have ended up."

She laughed softly. "Hell, probably could have ended up with another you." Carol teased. "Maybe in another life."

"Yeah, maybe that Carol would have let me go shoot that little fucker." Carol snorted.

"Oh, trust me, honey, I'd love to let you go over there and be the Dixon I fell in love with twenty years ago." Carol said softly, running her fingers over his chest. "But you'd go to jail for murdering a child and would be no good to either of us there."

Merle looked down at his wife and squeezed her thin shoulder in his hand. "Yeah, I know." He said, leaning down to press his lips into Carol's forehead. "I still wish I could."

"I know." Carol said and looked up at her husband. "According to Emma, Carl beat the hell out of him, at least."

Merle smiled. "Oh, I bet Rick's gonna love that. That kid acts more like a Dixon than a Grimes." Carol let out a soft laugh. "Emma doesn't want Daryl to find out." He added.

"Chances are he will, Carl's dating Beth and he won't be able to stop himself from telling her and you know Beth will tell Maggie and Maggie will tell Daryl." Carol said as Merle leaned over to turn the light off. He groaned, leaning back into the bed.

"That huntin' trip is gonna be Emma tryin' ta convince Daryl to not go over there and kill him." He said.

Carol snorted. "Poor Emma." She said softly.

Merle smiled as he shut his eyes, holding his wife in his arms as they both started to drift off to sleep. Emma was gonna be just fine, she was a fucking Dixon.


	12. Rowdy Burns

**So where did this come from? I have no idea. If you haven't seen Days of Thunder, you should go watch it. It's about racing and even if it's not your thing, well it's Michael Rooker. And he's awesome in it, steals the movie if you ask me. He plays Rowdy Burns in it, this Nascar driver who's basically an asshole (but then he's a cool dude idk watch the movie) and ends up finding out he's got a broken blood vessel in his brain and needs to have brain surgery, blah blah blah. But really you should watch the movie. Anyway, I hate NASCAR with a passion – for personal reasons – and I thought it would be interesting if Merle hated Nascar for personal reasons, like his father being a NASCAR driver who put his career before his family.**

**Warnings: Slight domestic violence, mentions of child abuse and suicide.**

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Soon to be Carol Dixon sat on her couch with several notes, textbooks and magazines stashed around her, her laptop sitting on the table in front of her. She was attempting to multitask with studying for her final exam at the local veterinary college and planning her wedding at the same time, both of which were coming up very quickly. Her final exam was in days and her wedding was in less than a month, her seating chart still only half-way done. The television was on the news station in the background to act as background noise, she could never study without noise playing behind her. It was early in the morning, just passed eight in the morning and she had been up for a few hours already. Her fiance, Merle, was passed out in the bedroom. She didn't think she'd see him until the next day.

For as long as she'd known Merle Dixon, and it had been almost six years since she met him, May 6th was a day that she almost never saw him. Even after they moved in together, she wouldn't see him. She didn't know why May 6th was a dark day for Merle, he never told her and the one time she asked why he refused to tell her. They fought about it because she wouldn't let it go, and after that Carol never asked about it. She just accepted that Merle would be gone for the day.

"It's on this day that NASCAR remembers Rowdy Burns, four time Cup Champion and three time Daytona 500 winner, who passed away on this day in a car accident that also took the life of his seven year old son, Daryl.." Carol froze at the mention of the name Daryl, recognizing the name Daryl. Merle had the name tattooed on his back, but there was no way that this was the same Daryl, it was a fairly popular name.

She gasped and froze when she looked up and saw the picture of Rowdy Burns on the television with two dates underneath. If she hadn't known any better, she would have thought that was a picture of her fiancé on her television. Carol grabbed the remote off the coffee table and paused the television, staring at the picture on her screen. She set the remote down next to her and reached forward to grab her laptop. She opened it, waited for it to load and opened up a new web page. She went right away to wikipedia and typed in Rowdy Burns.

Carol looked up at the television, staring at the date. May 6th. It explained why Merle hated May 6th so much, he lost his father and little brother that day.

She opened up his wikipedia page and began to read about him. Rowdy Burns was born December 15 1951 and died May 6th, 1996. Carol bit her lip and scrolled down to his personal life section, not caring about what he did in NASCAR. Personally, Carol couldn't stand the sport and knew that Merle hated it as well. Now she knew why.

"In 1979, Rowdy married Madeline Dixon, a beauty queen from Georgia. She gave birth to Merle Burns in 1981, then Daryl in 1989. His family stayed in Georgia while he traveled for NASCAR, Rowdy returning home in 1994 when he got injured. He was out of the sport for six months, but returned in 1995 though he never raced the same." Carol searched around within the section for a little bit until she found the section about his death.

"In 1996, Burns reportedly passed out while driving 7 year old Daryl to school. Daryl died immediately but Rowdy died later in the day." The article went on to say that Madeline went on to end her life by setting the house on fire four years later.

Carol leaned back against the couch and covered her mouth, unable to believe the information that she just took in. She understood why Merle had never said anything, but she couldn't help but feel angry that he hadn't. They were getting in married in less than a month and he just never thought that this information was necessary?

"What. The. Fuck. Is. He. Doing. On. My. Television." A firm voice said from behind her. Carol slammed the laptop shut and slowly turned around to look behind her. A furious Merle Dixon stood behind the couch, his eyes on the television, on the picture of his father. Carol reached forward to grab the remote from the spot next to her but without even looking at her, Merle reached down and grabbed Carol's wrist. "I asked you a fucking question, Carol." He growled.

Carol's eyes widened at the tight grip Merle had on her wrist, but she attempted as hard as she could to keep calm. "Merle, let go of my arm." She said. Carol didn't dare move again, she just stared at him, but his eyes were solely on the television. She had never seen Merle look so angry before. "Merle, let me turn off the television." Merle didn't move, didn't say anything. Carol couldn't even tell if he was breathing. She tried to pull her arm away from him, but Merle's grip tightened. "Ow, ow. Merle, please." On instinct she tried to pull her arm away from him but it only caused her more pain. "Merle, please, you're hurting me!" Carol pleaded.

Carol's plea partially brought Merle out of his haze and he glanced over at her, the sight of her looking at him like that, like how his Mama looked at his Daddy shaking him to his core. Merle loosened his grip on her wrist slowly before he let go completely. Carol climbed off the couch, holding her wrist to her chest. When his eyes turned back to the television, his rage returned. "Tha fuck is he doing on my television?" He asked again, finally turning to look at Carol. She stepped back again, fearing the look on his face. Her fiancé was barely recognizable like this.

Carol stuttered over her words. "I-I was st-studying and working on t-the seating arrangement f-for the wedding and t-the news was on and.. well..." She glanced back at the television, at the picture of Rowdy Burns.

"So ya just paused the television on his face and looked him up to read all about dear old Dad, right?" He asked. Carol took a slow, deep breath. He must have been behind her for a while before he spoke.

Carol opened her mouth but no words came out, she just continued to back up. If she could make it to the television, she could shut if off. If she could shut it off and he wouldn't have to look at it, maybe he'd calm down. "I looked up at the television and saw some guy that looks like my fiancé." Carol stressed the world fiancé, reminding Merle of who she was. "Was I supposed to ignore it and carry on with what I was doing?" Merle didn't respond, he turned his gaze back to the television. "How come you never just told me about this? We've been together for five years."

Merle began to laugh, slowly walking along the length of the couch and around it. She backed up again, taking two steps backwards. Merle noticed her backing up as he walked towards her. "My _father _spent more time working on his fucking car and racing than he ever did with us. And when he was around, he was a mean ol' bastard. Treated my Mama like she was a fuckin' slave, bossin' 'er around all the time. And me and Daryl? Shit, he treated us even fuckin' worse. Loved to knock us around. I took most of it, just so Daryl wouldn't have to. He was just a fuckin' kid. Bet that wasn't on any article, was it?" Carol stared at Merle, her heart aching for him. He never spoke about his childhood, never. "Was it!?" He shouted when Carol didn't respond.

Carol shook her head, jumping back as he shouted at her. "No." Carol said softly.

"Speak up, Carol, I can't fuckin' hear ya!" Merle yelled.

"No!" Carol said, raising her voice slightly.

"Yeah, I bet ya couldn't find a fuckin' thing on the internet about how fuckin' shitty Rowdy Burns was." Merle said, walking in front of the television, staring at his fathers picture. "Nothing on there but how much of a great driver my father was, about how much he did for fuckin' NASCAR. Not a damn thing about how he treated his family like shit. Not a damn thing about how he knew he had a broken blood vessel in his brain, didn't give a shit and didn't want to lose his career. Tha's why he passed out at the wheel with Daryl in the car. Because he didn't want to ruin his career."

If this was anyone else but Merle, Carol would have walked over to them, hugged them, told them she was sorry. But this was Merle and she knew better than to get close to him while he was angry. He had a violent temper, which she was rarely on the end of. Even when he was angry with her, he never hit her. But then again, she'd never seen him this angry. Merle was silent, staring down at the picture of his father. "Merle.." She said softly, jumping back when Merle stepped back from the television, grasped the top of it and pulled it down to the floor.

Carol covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming when she heard the television break. Merle stared down at the television, having clearly calmed down after breaking the television that had been causing him so much pain. He looked up at his _fiancée, startled at the look of fear on her face, startled by the tears that were in her eyes. Christ, what had he done? He took a large step over the television towards her, reaching a hand out for her. "Carol.." Merle said, his voice having lost its rage. _

_Still, Carol backed up when he reached out for her, looking away from him so he wouldn't see the tears that were escaping from her eyes. Merle stopped in his tracks when Carol backed up to get away from him, staring at her. Fuck, he'd scared her. He'd terrified her, made her cry. Merle cursed and turned around, walking back over the television. Carol heard him walk away from her, heard his footsteps down the hallway. When she heard their bedroom door slam shut, Carol let out her sob. She'd never seen Merle like that before, she had to admit it absolutely terrified her. _

_After composing herself, Carol walked over to the television and pulled it up and leaned it against the entertainment center. She stepped over the broken glass and went to find a broom and a dustpan. After cleaning up the mess that had been created, Carol sat down on the couch and opened her laptop, closing out the article on Rowdy Burns. She picked up the seating arrangement for the wedding and continued to fill it out, needing to calm her own nerves. _

_It was just after nine-thirty when Carol finished the seating arrangement, setting it inside a folder she'd been using to store her wedding things. She tucked the folder under her laptop and stood to her feet, taking a deep breath and walking to their bedroom. She put her hand on the doorknob to open it but stopped when she heard Merle talking._

_"__I got a really good thing with Carol goin' on, ya know? Know I talk about her a lot, but if ya were around, ya'd get it. She's fuckin' perfect, got the whole package. Insanely smart, fuckin' gorgeous, cooks. And she fuckin' loves my dumbass." Carol smiled slightly and knew she shouldn't be listening to Merle, but she stood at the door with her ear pressed to it anyway. "Ya'd like her a lot, Daryl." Carols heart broke, he was talking to his brother. Did he do that a lot? "Would have laughed like hell at me tryin' ta ask her to marry me. That was a mess. Ain't too proud ta admit it, almost cried when she said yes." Carol smiled at the memory of Merle trying to ask her to marry him. It had been awkward, he'd done it in the middle of dinner. It was unexpected, but she had kissed him in the middle of it to get him to shut up, which have given him just enough confidence to blurt out 'Will you marry me?'. "Course, I probably just fucked all that up. But thats what I do, right? Just like Daddy said."_

_"__I just fuckin' snapped when I saw his picture on the TV, saw the article she was readin'. Knew none of it talked about how much of an asshole Dad was. None of it would say that he killed 'is fucking son because he didn't want to hurt his precious NASCAR career." Carol was taken back by hearing the break in his voice. "Didn't mean to grab her like that, didn't mean to make her cry. Didn't mean to.. Make her look at me like the way Mama looked at him." Carol's bottom lip trembled as she heard the unmistakeable sounds of Merle crying. She heard something get tossed across the room and she slowly, nervously, turned the doorknob and opened the door. _

_Merle's back was facing the door, sitting on his side of the bed. Scattered on the floor were pictures, pictures she assumed were of Daryl. She didn't know if Merle had heard her come in, it hadn't stopped his back from shaking. Carol sat on the bed and crawled across it, sitting on her knees behind him. She pressed her hand on his back softly, startling Merle. He wiped his eyes off, not wanting her to see him cry. Men didn't cry. Carol's hand ran up his back and over his shoulder, wrapping around his chest. He attempted to pull away from her, but Carol tugged him back against her, pressing her lips to the side of his neck. She moved to sit on the floor, pushing a few of the photos aside so that she didn't sit on them._

_Carol knelt in front of Merle, bringing both of her hands up to the sides of his face. She wiped the tears away with her thumbs and leaned up to press her lips against his forehead. Merle wrapped both arms around her and held her a little tightly, burying his head in her shoulder. Another heavy sob left Merle's throat, shaking his back. Carol ran her hands up and down his back in attempts to calm him down. "I'm sorry." Merle sobbed against her neck, mumbling a few more apologies. "I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry." Merle rarely said he was sorry, she knew that he must have felt like absolute shit. Carol tightened her arms around him, repeatedly kissing the side of his face._

_"__I know, I know." Carol said softly and cupped the back of his neck, pulling away from him just enough that she could move her hand to cup the side of his face. "I know." Carol said and pressed her lips into his cheek, wiping his tears away. Merle didn't want to look at her. What if she was still looking at him like his Mama looked at his Daddy? "Hey, look at me." Carol said._

_Merle forced himself to look at her, looking down at her. She wasn't looking at him like his Mama looked at is Daddy, she was looking at him the way she always looked at him. "I'm a jackass." Merle mumbled when his tears had subsided. _

_"__Yeah, you are." Carol said softly, leaning up to press her lips gently against his. "And if you ever talk to me like that again, I will get your shotgun out of the closet and shoot up your bike." She threatened. Merle snorted, but he nodded in understanding. He mumbled another apology, sniffling. "Stop." She said, resting her hands on his thighs. "I don't want to hear another apology." Carol said. Merle nodded again and Carol looked back at the pile of pictures on the floor. "Are those pictures of Daryl?" She asked. _

_"__Yeah." Merle said. "They were the only thing I took when I left home." He leaned over and picked up one of the photos, a slight smile forming on his face as he looked down at it. Merle handed the photo to Carol, nodding when she hesitated. Carol took the photo from him and sat on the floor between his legs, looking down at the photo._

_Merle couldn't have been more than nine in the photo, sitting on a couch with a small baby in his arms. Carol smiled as she looked down at it, reaching up to take his hand. "You were a really cute kid." Carol said. _

_"__What happened, right?" He asked. Carol laughed softly and looked up at him. _

_"__Nah, I still think you're pretty cute." Carol said softly. _

_Merle nudged her forward so he could sit on the ground with her. Carol scooted forward and Merle slid down to the floor, picking up the photos that had been tossed to the ground and shoving them back in their box. He pulled Carol back in-between his legs with her back pressed into his chest when he sat back against the bed with the box next to him. In another moment of surprising vulnerability, Merle showed Carol each of the photos, telling as many stories about the pictures as he could remember. _

_When he'd gotten through all of the stories and pictures, Merle shut the box and slipped it back under the bed, wrapping his arms around Carol. His head ached from the crying he'd done and he was still embarrassed about that. More embarrassed about the way he'd treated Carol, though. She'd had enough of him apologizing for it. Merle brought her left hand up to his mouth and kissed her wrist softly, happy Carol couldn't see the stupid smile on his face when she laced her fingers through his and he could feel the engagement ring against his fingers. _

_"__Did ya finish that uh, seating chart thing?" Merle asked after a few moments of silence. Carol smiled and nodded. _

_"__Yeah, I did. Wanna check it?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him. _

_Merle snorted. He hadn't touched a lot of the wedding stuff, that was Carol's domain. "Nah, sure ya got it." Carol laughed softly and ran her fingers over his arms. _

_"__You don't have to deal with these things alone, Merle." Carol said softly, twisting her body just enough so that she could look at him. "I'm going to be your wife, ya know."_

_"__I know." Merle mumbled, shrugging his shoulders. "I ain't good with shit like.. Talking."_

_"__Unless you're angry." Carol said softly and her lips twitched upward. Merle glanced up at her, then looked back at her shoulder, pulling the strap of her tank top to the side. He leaned down and kissed her freckles, sighing against her skin. _

_"__I ain't like my Daddy. I ain't gonna put shit before ya.. Before any kids we might have.." Carol looked back at Merle with an eyebrow raise. They hadn't really talked about kids before. _

_Carol licked her lips in thought and turned her body around so that she was completely facing Merle, but still in between his legs. She pulled her own legs to up to her chest, tucking her feet under Merle's thighs. "You want kids?" She asked. _

_Merle looked up at the change in subject when she asked about wanting kids. He'd never thought about having kids before until he met Carol, until he settled down with Carol. "Wouldn't mind a few Merle Jr's running around." Carol laughed softly. _

_"__How about some Carol Jr's? I can barely keep up with Merle Senior." Carol joked. Merle snorted and let out a slight laugh. "Wouldn't mind having Merle Jr.." Carol admitted. She leaned forward to press her lips against his. She pulled away for a second and looked at him. "You don't have anymore surprise relatives, right? Your Uncle Arnold isn't gonna end up Arnold Schwarzenegger?" She attempted to joke._

_It took Merle a few moments to realize that she was joking and he grinned. "Nah, ain't related to Arnold Schwarzenegger." He said. At least she wasn't leaving him, she was still here. Christ, he had worlds greatest woman sitting in front of him, that loved him despite the fact that he was a total fuck up that didn't know how to love someone the way he was supposed to love Carol. It wasn't the first time they'd gotten in a fight, though it was the first time that he'd scared her like that, first time he'd caused her any sort of pain. Neither of them were foolish to think it would be the last time they were going to fight, but Merle would rather cut off his own hand with a hacksaw than ever cause her pain again. _

_"__What're you thinking about?" Carol asked. Merle glanced down at his hands._

_"__Cuttin' my hand off with a hacksaw." He said honestly. Carol raised an eyebrow and reached down to take both of his hands in hers, them tightly. She looked up at him and smiled softly, pressing a kiss into each of his palms. _

_"__Don't do that, I need these hands." Carol grinned softly and sat up on her knees between his legs and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning down to capture his lips against hers. He wrapped his arms around her waist and let out a soft sigh against her lips. She pulled away for a moment and looked down at him, pressing her lips on his forehead. "I will never pretend to understand you and your childhood, but... I love you, despite it. No matter what he told you or.." Carol shook her head. "You are a good man and I love you." Merle looked up at her in complete awe that she loved him, despite everything. He brought her wrist to his mouth and kissed it again. He was thankful that her wrists weren't bruised, at least not yet, maybe he hadn't grabbed her as hard as he had thought. "Not like we needed a TV anyway." _


	13. Happy Mothers Day

**There is really nothing to say here. It's Mothers Day and I wanted to write something for Mothers Day for both Marol and Caryl. To any mothers that are reading this, Happy Mothers Day!**

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"Hey, Dad." Sophia said and handed her ten month old daughter into her fathers arms, watching as her father held little Stephanie Grimes in his arms. Sophia leaned up and kissed her fathers cheek as she came into the house, her husband Carl coming in behind her.

"Hey, Mr. Dixon." Carl said, nodding at his father-in-law.

"Carl, I've told you time and time again to call me Merle. Ain't dealin' with this Mr. Dixon shit." Merle said as he let his daughter and son-in-law into his house, holding his granddaughter against his side. Carl shut the door as he walked into the house, the faint smell of pancakes and bacon cooking in the kitchen.

"Mom still asleep?" Sophia asked as she took her jacket off and walked into the hallway of her childhood home, putting her jacket into the closet. Carl removed Stephanie's jacket and followed his wife into the hallway to put their jackets up.

Merle nodded, walking into his kitchen with his granddaughter still on his side. He'd loved being a father to his only daughter Sophia, and he loved being a grandfather to his first granddaughter even more. "Yeah, since you moved out she's become a really deep sleeper." Merle said as Sophia joined him in the kitchen. He looked over at his daughter and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Happy Mothers Day, baby." Sophia smiled and looked up at her.

"Thanks, Daddy." Sophia reached forward and took Stephanie from him so he could return to making breakfast for his wife and daughter. That's exactly how Mothers Day went, Carol would sleep in and Merle would make breakfast with Sophia. Now that Sophia was grown up, out of the house and a mother herself, Merle would have liked if she could have been sleeping in too, but he remembered how it was like with a six month old baby. She wouldn't be awake anyway.

Merle glanced back at Sophia and then over at Carl, who was awkwardly standing in the kitchen. Carl Grimes had always feared his father-in-law, Merle Dixon was a large intimidating man. Didn't help that the first time Carl came over to take Sophia out, Merle was sitting in a recliner with his shotgun over his lap, saying absolutely nothing while his wife talked to Carl and sent them off. "Ya and Sophia see yer parents already?"

Carl shook his head, clearing his throat. "No, sir. We've got dinner with them tonight. Figured they'd want Mothers Day morning to themselves with Judith and her kids." Merle nodded and returned to his pancakes and bacon.

"Carl got a promotion at work. He's being promoted to Lieutenant." Sophia said, smiling at her husband with a look of pride on her face. Carl had followed in his fathers footsteps and become a cop. Unlike his father, he quickly rose in ranks while his father was still a local Sheriff. Merle respected Carl for his job and he was proud of the kid he'd come to care about during the almost fifteen years that they'd been together, he was taking care of his only daughter and first granddaughter with this job. It was an honorable job when it was done by someone who truly cared about being a cop and doing what was right, like Carl did. Merle slipped the pancakes onto the large plate and poured more batter on the frying pan.

"Oh yeah?" Merle looked over at Carl, waiting for Carl's confirmation nod. Merle's past left him with a strong hatred of cops, and even though he had left that life behind him a long time ago, that never changed. "Good for ya. I still hate cops." Sophia let out a loud laugh, bouncing Stephanie on her hip. Sophia reached over and took a piece of bacon off of the plate when her father wasn't looking, grinning when he looked over at her and she was halfway through the piece of bacon. "Some things never change." Merle mumbled.

When Merle finished the breakfast, Sophia left him and her husband in the kitchen to go upstairs and wake her mother. It was tradition, Sophia wasn't about to break it. Sophia walked up the familiar steps, skipping the squeakiest step. When she was on the second floor, Sophia walked the familiar path down to her parents bedroom and opened the door, crawling into the large king size bed with her mother, who was still fast asleep. Sophia put Stephanie down on the bed next to her Grandmother as she reached her hand out and gently nudged her mother.

"Mama. Mama wake up." Sophia said.

"Go back to bed, Sophia, just a bad dream." Carol mumbled.

Sophia laughed. "Mama, I didn't have a bad dream. I'm almost thirty. Come on wake up, it's Mothers Day, Daddy's got breakfast waiting downstairs."

Carol began to come out of her morning fog, opening one eye and seeing her granddaughter on the bed attempting to crawl towards her. She smiled and reached up to cup the side of Stephanie's face, looking up at her daughter. "Happy Mothers Day, Sophia." Carol said softly.

Sophia looked down at her mother and smiled. "Happy Mothers Day, Mama."


	14. Rain

**I have these lists of one word/one sentence prompts in my documents folder that I look at whenever I'm stuck with the next idea and rain/thunderstorm stuck out to me for them. it's a hell of a lot shorter than the other drabbles, but I liked it where it was. To those still reading and reviewing, thank you and I adore you.**

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Merle rolled over in bed and brought his arm around to wrap around his girlfriends form, frowning when he realized that the spot next to him was empty. He opened his eyes and rubbed the sleep from them, yawning as he sat up. Merle climbed out of the bed, found a pair of cotton lounge pants that had been discarded on the floor and stepped into them. He picked up a t-shirt on the way and pulled it over his head as he left the bedroom.

Merle walked down the hallway, glancing in the bathroom to see if that was where Carol was. He let out a grunt when he realized that she wasn't in there, wasn't in the dining room and wasn't in the kitchen or living room. There was only one last place that she could be, but with the sounds of the rain he couldn't imagine why she was outside. Merle walked out back to the patio and opened the sliding glass door, leaning his head out to look out on the patio.

There she was, sitting on the old swing. She was sitting on the swing in Merle's boxers and his Marine's t-shirt, her legs pulled up against her chest.

"Hey." Merle said. Carol jumped and turned her head as she heard Merle's voice. He let out a chuckle as he realized he had scared her and he walked back on the patio. He moved to sit down next to her, the canopy of the swing keeping his head dry but his pants were getting wet.

"I can't sleep." Carol said as her boyfriend sat next to her, leaning against Merle's form. One of his arms lifted up and he wrapped an arm around her, tugging her body close.

Merle snorted. "Can ya ever?" She smiled and jabbed her elbow into his side. She shut her eyes and leaned into him, finding comfort in his touch. For as long as they'd been together in the past six months, Merle had never known her to sleep through the night. In the months they'd been living together, he witnessed her sleep through the night only a handful of times.

"No." Carol laughed.

"Seems like I ain't doin' my job if you're able to stay awake after I'm done with ya." Carol looked up at Merle and rolled her eyes.

Carol ran her hands over her calves, resting them on top of her knees. She swallowed and looked up at the night sky, watching the raindrops fall. "Trust me, Merle, my issues with sleep happened before I even dreamed of having a boyfriend to sleep with every night." For as long as Carol could remember, she'd had troubles sleeping. She just couldn't shut her mind off. She was supposed to take medication to help her sleep at night, but she found that the medication made her have terrifying dreams.

Merle looked down at her, watching as she looked up at the sky and the raindrops. Christ, she was fucking beautiful. "Never been able to sleep?" He asked, resting his broad hand on her shoulder. Carol shook her head and leaned back into the swing.

Carol smiled and looked up at him. "No, sir. My Momma always said that my mind just doesn't shut off like a normal persons does." Carol looked out at the rain. "Seems to get worse whenever it rains, the noise.." She shrugged. "You can go back inside, Merle. I know you have work in the morning."

He shrugged, squeezing her shoulder. "I don't mind sitting out here with ya." Merle mumbled. Carol smiled and glanced up at him, leaning back into his touch.

Carol pulled her legs out from under her and curled her feet under her, wrapping both arms around him and rest her head on top of his chest. Merle squeezed her shoulder, dragging his calloused thumb along her skin. He let out a slight grunt and looked out at the rain.

"Gonna be a bitch to drive in the rain tomorrow."

"Maybe you should call in. Spend the day in bed with me." Carol turned her head to look up at her boyfriend, her lips twitched upward. Merle raised his eyebrow at her. "Try to put me to sleep.."

Signature Dixon grin formed on Merle's handsome face and he brought his hand up to his face, rubbing his chin in thought. "I could probably give ya hand with that." Merle leaned down and grasped the side of her face before leaning down to press his lips into hers.


	15. Three

**I think the title kind of says it all what this is about; a threesome. Well, a threesome dream. Another fic that was inspired by pugster20 and talking about Merle/Carol. Its very M and features a bit of femmeslash between Maggie and Carol, so if that isn't your thing you should probably just not read this one. Happy reading!**

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Carol wrapped her arms around Merle's shoulders, a grin forming on her face as her boyfriend enjoyed his morning coffee. "Good morning, birthday boy." She said softly, leaning down to press a kiss against his neck. Merle frowned and and turned his head to look at her. He hated his birthday, he knew that Carol knew this. Of course she would still make a big deal out of it, she wanted him to enjoy his birthday. It was a day all about him and Carol _loved _to pamper him anyway, especially on his birthday.

"Ain't a boy. I'm a man." He grumbled, bringing his coffee cup up to his mouth and taking a drink of his coffee. Carol rolled her eyes at Merle and let her hand come around his chest, resting over his heart. She pressed another kiss on his neck, trying to ease her boyfriend up. It was morning, of course he was going to be grumpy. He wouldn't be later tonight.

"Alright, birthday _man_." She said and kissed his neck again, bringing her hands up to massage his shoulders. Merle shut his eyes and let out a soft groan at her massaging his shoulders. "What do you want for your birthday breakfast?"

Merle grunted, taking a long drink of his coffee. Normally he loved when Carol cooked breakfast for him, no one cooked like Carol could. "Coffees good." He said. Carol rolled her eyes and walked over to the stove.

"Coffee is not breakfast." Carol said and poured her own cup of coffee. She held the mug in her hand and lifted it up to her lips, taking a a long drink from it. "I know you don't like to make a big deal out of your birthday…" Carol said and walked over to the table. Merle looked up at her and leaned back in the chair. Carol leaned against the table and set the mug down on the table next to her, leaning forward to wrap her arms around his front, standing in between his legs.

"Just another fuckin' day, don't need nothing special." Merle said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Much rather ya just pretend it ain't even my birthday."

"Well, I'm not going to pretend like that today isn't your birthday. And I'm not doing it for you." Carol admitted, shrugging her shoulders. He raised an eyebrow, resting his hand on her hip.

"Its my birthday but you ain't doing it for me?" He asked, piquing his eyebrow in interest. "Ain't that a little backwards?"

Carol pursed her lips. "Yes, but its more for me. To treat you to something special, make you feel good." She rest her hands on his shoulders.

Merle smirked, trailing his hand up her back. "Ya know how take make me feel good." He said, a wolfish grin taking over his handsome features. "Wouldn't say no to some sugar for breakfast." He said.

Carol rolled her eyes playfully and leaned down to capture his lips against hers. "I know you wouldn't, but we don't have time for that." She said.

"Shit, its my birthday, I can go into work late " Merle said, trailing his mouth down over her slim neck. She shut her eyes as his facial hair scratched her skin, attempting to stifle a giggle.

"Oh, so now it's your birthday?" Carol asked, attempting to pull away from Merle, but he tightened the arm that was around her to hold her in place. "Merle, stop." She mumbled as his mouth trailed over her exposed flesh.

Merle groaned when she flat out told him to stop, he couldn't continue on when she told him to stop. He didn't want to stop, he wanted to have sex on his kitchen table. He dragged his tongue across his bottom lip, the tip of his tongue trailing across her skin. Carol shut her eyes in attempt to keep her cool. "Yer killing me, Carol." He growled against her soft skin. She grinned and pulled away from him, looking down at him.

"Don't overwork yourself today. You're gonna need your energy for your present tonight." She said as she walked over to the stove. Carol was going to make Merle a special birthday breakfast and he was going to eat it and he was going to appreciate it. She pulled out two frying pans and set them on the stove.

Merle raised an eyebrow at Carol, watching her go from the stove to the fridge. She got out a carton of eggs and a package of bacon, walking back to the stove. He spoke as she started to cook him breakfast. Merle smiled slightly, he liked when she took care of him. "Oh yeah? What'd ya get me, sugar tits?" Merle asked, tapping his fingers along the table.

Carol looked back at him from over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at him calling her sugar tits. She'd never told him that she loved when he called her that, there was just something about the way he would say it that made her love it. If anyone else called her that, she would probably threaten to cut their dick off, but when Merle called her it, she couldn't help but love it. Maybe it was just because it was Merle.

"You'll see, Merle." Carol said with a grin that matched Merle's wolfish grin.

Merle was most definitely intrigued by her statement, especially the line about him needing to keep his energy. It'd stay with him all day at work.

(( line ))

"Are you sure about this, Carol?" Maggie asked, looking up at her from her spot on Merle and Carol's bed. Carol glanced back at her as she pulled a black lacy tank top over her head and tugged it over her stomach. She'd chosen an outfit that she thought was sexy, the thin tank top and a pair of shorts. It really didn't take much to get Merle in the mood.

She glanced in the mirror and ran her hands over the material of her shorts and looked back at Maggie. "Yes."

"What if he doesn't go for this?" Maggie asked.

Carol let out a soft laugh. "Please, Maggie, this is _Merle. _He's been wanting a threesome since the day we met, I'm sure before then." She said. Maggie laughed, she had a point. "He'll go for this." Carol said to assure Maggie and a bit to herself. She expected Merle home about an hour ago, she didn't know why he wasn't home yet. Sometimes he would go out for a drink with his brother Daryl, but he almost always called to let her know he'd be home late. After her comment about his present, she figured that he would have rushed home.

She looked back at Maggie, who had now sprawled out on the bed. This wasn't the first time that Carol and Maggie had slept together, but if Merle agreed to this (which Carol knew he would) it would be their first threesome. "You know, I'm glad we've been able to stay friends." Maggie said. Carol turned to look at her and she sat down at the end of the bed.

"Me too." She smiled softly and reached forward to take Maggie's hand. Maggie smiled at Carol and opened her mouth to speak when they heard the front door open and shut. Carol stood to her feet and Maggie sat up, sitting at the end of the bed. Maggie looked, as Maggie always did, incredibly attractive. She was wearing nothing but a pair of cut off jean shorts and a black t-shirt, and somehow she looked ten times better than Carol did and she went out of her way to look somewhat good. "I will be right back.." Carol said softly and left the room, heading downstairs to the kitchen.

Merle shrugged his jacket off and dropped it on the table, emptying his pockets of his Swiss Army knife, his keys, cigarettes, lighter and his wallet. "Hey honey, how was work?" She asked, standing across the table.

Without looking at her, Merle started talking. "Fine. Got a few new clients looking for custom bikes and they gonna pay big money for 'em. Went out to get a beer with Daryl, forgot ta call." That was as much of an apology as Carol was ever going to get out of Merle. "How was.." Merle trailed off, finally lifting his head up and looking at her. He stared at her outfit, starting from the barely there pair of shorts up over the very thin tank top and up to her face. He licked his lips and began to walk over to her. "Is this.." He waved his hand towards her outfit. "my present?" Merle asked.

Carol smiled, a blush forming on her face. She loved the way Merle would look at her sometimes. It made her feel like the only woman in the world. "No... Your present is upstairs." Carol said, twitching her head down the hall towards the stairs. Merle nodded and stopped in front of her, looking down at his girlfriend.

"Am I gonna like it?" He asked. Carol licked her lips. She was sure that Merle would like this, would be more than willing. But she couldn't help but be nervous. What if he didn't want to? What if he thought that just Maggie was his present? What if he decided after that he didn't want Carol anymore and he wanted Maggie instead? She nodded as Merle wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her body directly against his. "Ya gonna tell me what it is?" He asked. Carol shook her head this time and stood on her tiptoes to press her lips into his, biting down on his bottom lip as she pulled away from him. Merle smirked, loved when she acted like this.

"Gonna love it." Carol said as she slowly unbuttoned the shirt he was wearing, revealing a black tank underneath it. She pushed the shirt down his arms and pushed it to the floor, running her fingers over his chest and stomach. "I thought about this all damn day."

Merle smirked, a hundred ideas running through his mind about whatever this present could be. "Damn, baby, you were thinkin' bout this all day? Must be damn good." He ran his hands down her sides and brought his large hands over her ass, squeezing it in his hands.

Carol grinned and twirled out of his grasp, taking his hand and leading him upstairs. This was it; the moment of truth. Merle would either hate this or love this. Carol stopped in front of their bedroom door and twirled around to face him. "I know we've talked about doing this, so I wanted to give you something good for your birthday. Of course, we don't have to do it..." She trailed off nervously.

Merle nodded slowly as he raised an eyebrow and looked down at her. He couldn't remember anything they recently discussed doing that involved the bedroom. "Alright..." He trailed off, feeling a bit nervous now. Carol took a deep breath and opened the door.

Sitting at the end of Carol and Merle's bed, leaning back on her palms to be spread out like she was a buffet was Carol's longtime friend, Maggie Greene. Merle's eyes widened briefly as he looked at the younger woman, then looked back at his girlfriend. Maggie looked between her friend and her boyfriend, trying to read the surprised look on his face.

Carol looked up at Merle and bit down on her bottom lip nervously. He looked surprised, but he definitely didn't look angry. That was a good sign.

"So my present is.." Merle trailed off, not wanting to assume anything. Was his present Carol and Maggie or was it just Maggie? Carol knew that Merle was attracted to Maggie – everyone was attracted to Maggie.

Carol frowned briefly, which was missed by Merle. "A threesome." Carol said. She opened her mouth to say it was his present unless he didn't want to but he cut her off.

"Shit yes!" He said a bit more enthusiastically than she would have liked him to.

Maggie noted the look on Carol's face and she stood to her feet, taking a few steps over to the older couple. She looked up at Merle, then looked over at Carol. Maggie glanced once more at Merle before she leaned over and kissed Carol, wrapping her hand around the back of her neck to hold her in place. Carol couldn't stop the soft moan that escaped her lips as she eagerly kissed Maggie back.

Merle stared at them, watching how comfortable they were kissing each other and how much both girl liked doing it. It dawned on him, this wasn't the first time that they had kissed each other, probably wasn't the first time the had sex either. Had Carol had a threesome before? Hell, had Carol cheated on him with Maggie? He shot down the last one quickly, Carol wasn't the kind of girl to be unfaithful. He continued to think about the other ideas that had floated in his mind, about Carol and Maggie fooling around. Without even getting close to them or having either of them touch him, he felt his cock twitch in his jeans. "Shit, ya'll done this before." Merle mumbled.

Maggie pulled away from Carol. "Once or twice." Carol admitted. Maggie glanced at Carol, as if she was asking for permission to kiss Merle. She gave a brief nod and Maggie reached forward to grab a handful of Merle's shirt, pulling him towards her and crashing her lips against his. Merle didn't know if he was actually supposed to kiss back, it felt weird to kiss a girl that wasn't his girlfriend. He'd cheated on women before but they weren't Carol. Carol's fingers brushed over his arm as she wrapped her arm around Maggie's form, watching as Merle finally returned her kiss. Alright, this was going well so far.

Merle pulled away, looking at Carol and Maggie. "S'my birthday, I can get whatever I want outta this, right?" Maggie glanced at Carol, then nodded. He licked his lips and rubbed his chin for a moment before nodding. "Alright.. I wanna watch, just you two."

That surprised Carol, she had almost expected that he'd want to get right to having two girls fight over his dick. The two girls nodded in agreement however and Maggie moved to stand near the edge of the bed as Carol leaned up to press her lips into Merle's. She could taste Maggie's lip gloss on his lips, licking his bottom lip. "Happy Birthday, baby." Carol mumbled before pulling away from him and following Maggie back to the bed.

Merle smirked and he grabbed the chair that sat in front of Carol's vanity, turning it around so that the chair was facing the bed and he sat down in it just as Carol sat down on the bed. Maggie stood between her legs and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, crashing her lips into Carol's.

Merle frowned, no this wouldn't do. He couldn't see anything. "No, get on the bed with 'er." Merle ordered Maggie. The brunette glanced back at Merle and shot him a look that said 'don't you order me around, Merle Dixon or I'll be out of here faster than a race car off on a race a track' but a pinch from Carol on the side brought her back to the situation at hand. They had told Merle he could get whatever he wanted out of this. Carol gave Maggie a nod and she pulled her legs up on the bed, lying down. Maggie climbed onto the bed, straddling Carol's lap. "Yeah, that's good." He encouraged.

Maggie smirked softly, she hadn't known that Merle would be so bossy, though Carol had mentioned before that he was very vocal in bed. Carol leaned up and pressed her lops to Maggie's and bunched Maggie's shirt in her hand, slowly pushing it up her stomach. Maggie pulled away just enough to pull her t-shirt away and she turned slightly to throw the shirt directly at Merle. She removed her bra after tossing the shirt at him and flung that at him as well.

Merle smirked as the shirt landed at his feet, then as the bra landed directly in his lap he looked up at them. Their mouths had reconnected, Carol's hands covering Maggie's bare breasts in his hands. Merle growled slightly, but he didn't say anything.

Carol'ss mouth trailed down Maggie's neck, licking and biting across the pale skin. Maggie let out a soft whimper, her hand running through Carol's short hair. The hand covering the breast closest to Merle moved down Maggie's stomach, scratching the soft skin. Merle licked his lips as one of Maggie's perky tits was exposed to him, his eyes lingering on her chest. Carol dragged her tongue over the nipple, tugging the bud into her mouth a moment later.

Merle watched as Carol played with Maggie's breasts, her mouth on one and her hand on the other. Maggie's head leaned back and she let out a loud moan that sent all of Merle's blood rushing to his dick. Carol switched between breasts, her eyes opening and glancing over at Merle. He hadn't moved or made any sound in a while, he was just watching with an intense look on his face. She made brief eye contact with her boyfriend before she pulled away from Maggie to pull off her own shirt. Carol was older than Maggie, her breasts weren't as perky but they were still Merle's favorite pair of tits he'd ever seen. He always made sure she knew that.

Maggie pushed Carol back on the bed and she leaned forward, taking one of Carol's nipples in her mouth. Her brown hair fell over her face, blocking Merle's view. As if she could read Merle's mind, Carol gathered up Maggie's hair in her hand and tugged on her hand slightly. She moaned out Maggie's name softly, rolling her hips up into Maggie's. Maggie groaned softly at the friction and pushed her hips into Carol's. Maggie's mouth returned to Carol's as they continued to grind against each other, Carol's hands connecting with Maggie's hips, using them to pull Maggie against her harder.

Merle had grown painfully hard watching his girlfriend and their friend, reaching his hand down to massage his growing bulge through her jeans. He had been trying to hold off on touching himself until they were both naked, but this was proving to be much more difficult than he thought it would be.

He let out a barely audible sigh or relief when Carol's shorts came off and Maggie buried her her head between her legs, her mouth on Carol's cunt. He couldn't take his eyes off the sight of Maggie eating out his woman, wouldn't do it if you paid him. Merle stared, listening to the sounds of Carol's breathy moans.

(( line ))

Merle Dixon was brought out of a deep sleep due to the sounds of soft breathy moans and at first he thought that someone in a cell near his and Carol's was either having sex or getting themselves off but he quickly realized that the moans were coming from the body next to his. They were coming from Carol. For a brief moment, he thought that maybe Carol was touching herself but he realized that she was still fast asleep.

_Holy fucking shit. _Merle thought to himself, staring down at Carol. _My woman is having a fuckin wet dream. _He leaned his against the cold wall of the prison and stared down at her.

Carol's neck as bent back, her next extended and exposed to him. She was panting heavily, soft breathy moans escaping her mouth. Merle knew that he should wake her up, knew that if he woke up because of her moans that someone else was bound to. He should wake her up but he was really turned on by the moans. They were different from the ones that he caused. The moans that he caused were heavy, desperate, typically muffled by a pillow, t-shirt or his own hand to keep anyone from hearing them. The moans she were letting out were soft and delicate, as if she didn't have a care in the world.

Merle brought his hand up to grasp her arm and nudge her awake but was stopped just before he grabbed her arm when she moaned out a name in her sleep. "Maggie.." She breathed out.

Merle froze, a deep frown forming on his face. _Maggie? The Chinamans woman? Tha's who **my **woman is having a fucking wet dream about?_

A voice in his head, a voice that sounded a lot like his father, told him to pin her down and fuck her until she remembers exactly who she belongs to but Merle ignored that voice. He'd never do anything like that to Carol. "Go fuck yerself, Pa." Merle mumbled.

Still, Merle was one part angry, one part aroused. On one hand (the angry hand), Carol was having a wet dream about someone else. But on the other hand (the aroused hand), that someone else was a woman. Merle licked his lips and listened a little bit longer, her moans quieting down until she was quiet. Merle wrapped an arm around her and he tugged her body back to his. When he did, the soft moans picked up again. He smirked slightly and rest his head on her shoulder. Merle pressed a soft kiss on her shoulder and tugged her further against him, another name leaving her mouth. "Merle.." He opened his mouth to reply to her, but she said his name in the same breathy tone, she was still asleep.

He smirked triumphantly until it dawned on him. She moaned out both names, she was dreaming about both of them.

Carol was dreaming about a threesome between them and Maggie Greene.

_Holy fucking shit._ Merle pulled the blanket from them and climbed out of the bed, leaving the cell and heading down to the showers. He needed to be up anyway, he and Daryl were going hunting early in the morning. When he showered, Merle kept thinking about her breathy moans, thinking about the dream that she was having. If only the Chinaman wasn't around, he could work on making it a reality.

(( line ))

Carol opened her eyes and sat up in the cell in a cold sweat and she glanced over at the spot next to her that was normally occupied by Merle Dixon. She was thankful he wasn't next to her, wasn't there to ask what she had been dreaming about. The other times she had had the dream, she was able to lie her way out of it but this was the fifth time she'd had the dream. That fucking threesome dream.

She stood from the cot and collected some clothes and shower items before leaving her cell and heading to the showers. It was early enough, only the Dixon brothers were probably awake and they had probably gone out to hunt a while ago.

Carol took a cold shower (not like she could actually take a warm shower, the only water they had was cold) to calm herself down, though it didn't seem to do her any could. She leaned against against the wet shower wall and let out a soft groan. It hadn't helped her at all, it hadn't helped soothe her nerves or make her any less horny. She wished Merle was here, he wouldn't say no to a quick fuck. His pants would be off before she could even ask if he wanted to have sex.

She ran her hands down her stomach and down her thighs, running her fingers through her folds. Carol let out a soft moan and brushed her fingers over her clit, back through her folds down to her entrance and back up through her folds back to her clit. Using her other hand, Carol pushed her fingers into her cunt, letting out a soft moan. She cursed when she felt just how wet she was, knowing she needed to do something to control that dream. She started slowly as she massaged her clit and pumped her fingers inside of her, leaning against the shower wall. "Fuck, fuck, fuck.." She panted, thinking about the dream. She thought about how dream!Maggie felt, how dream!Maggie tasted, how dream!Maggie sounded. She thought about how dream!Merle reacted, how dream!Merle watched them together, how dream!Merle bossed them around for a while before joining in. Christ, as much as she knew it could never happen, Carol wished it could become a reality.

"Fuck! Oh my God!" Carol cried out as her orgasm cashed her body. She trembled against the shower wall, slumping against the wall. She ran her hand over her face, panting heavily.

When she caught her breath, Carol looked up to see Maggie standing there. By the flushed look on her face, she could tell that Maggie had seen enough. "Threesome dream again?" Maggie asked.

Carol nodded again and it caused Maggie to start to blush, glancing down at her feet. "Merle's birthday, this time."

Maggie let out a loud laugh and looked back up at her older friend. "Get dressed. Daryl just brought back two nice sized bucks, we're gonna be busy."

Carol began to walk over to where she left her clothes. She picked up her towel and began to dry herself off. "Where's Merle?" She asked, setting the towel down on the table and began to get dressed.

"Helping Rick and Glenn with the fence." Maggie said as she dressed. Carol nodded and finished dressing, taking her things back to her cell. She dumped them in the corner of the cell and went down to the kitchen to work with Maggie on the venison.

Daryl helped them gut and clean the bucks, no one could do it like Daryl Dixon. He left them to cook it (even though there was no one who could cook a deer like the Dixons), hanging around in the dining area close by. The prison group had expanded so much in the last few months, they would go through all this meat quickly.

Carol and Magie went about the cooking, making small talk about things. She was happy that the dreams Carol had been having hadn't made things awkward between them, Carol had told her about them after the second one and Maggie honestly seemed _flattered_. It was the apocalypse, make-up and grooming were now things of the past. It was nice to be made to feel beautiful.

Merle walked into the kitchen and stopped when he saw Carol and Maggie working close together. He wondered if Carol was thinking about her dream, hell he wondered exactly what had happened in her dream. By her heavy pants and moans, it had been one hell of a dream.

His cock twitched in his pants and his face reddened as he walked over to the counter. Merle slammed his hunting pack down on a table near them, unfortunately gaining the attention of everyone in the kitchen. There was no going back now. He walked up to Carol and wrapped an arm around Carol's waist and tugged her body back against his, crashing his mouth against Carol's forcibly. Carol gasped as Merle kissed her so openly with everyone in the kitchen staring at them, but she returned his kiss. He hadn't kissed her like this since the day he first kissed her, it was like he was marking his territory.

Merle pulled away from Carol and left the kitchen to go back out to the fence to turn his sexual frustration into anger towards the walkers.

Carol gasped as Merle walked away and slowly looked around at everyone in the dining area that was still staring, to look at Maggie. A deep blush formed on Carol's face and she turned back around to the venison, putting more of the meat into the pan. The meat sizzled, distracting Carol from everyone looking at her. Maggie came up beside Carol and leaned against the counter, looking at the blush on the aroused womans face.

"What was that?" She asked, glancing back at the group. Most of the group wasn't staring anymore, having gone back to their conversations.

Carol looked over at Maggie and pursed her lips. "I think Merle has figured out my dream..."


	16. Pineapples (Ice Skating Verse)

**So, this is related to Ice Skating. what evil lurks asked if we were going to see a chapter called Pineapples about where the safe word came from and why they needed it. Originally I had intended on this going in a much different way, but when I got to the end it just seemed perfect to end it there. This was really fun to write, so thanks what evil lurks!**

**Warning: This is very, very, very, very M.**

* * *

Carol dragged the vacuum into the bedroom she shared with her boyfriend Merle, plugging it into the outlet by the bed. She turned on the vacuum and began to vacuum the carpet, humming softly to herself. She hadn't had much to do during the day, she had the day off from her job at the dental office she worked at in the next town. Carol was a dental hygienist at a free dental clinic, which was where she met her boyfriend, Merle Dixon. Merle came in after a bar fight and she couldn't help but be attracted to the charming redneck. He was a rough man around the edges, but Carol was chipping off those layers bit by bit.

She'd moved into his apartment four months into their relationship, despite having to move to the next town. The drive was a bit further than she liked, but the rent on his apartment was cheap enough that it was worth it. It wasn't in the safest area either, but Carol wasn't worried. She knew how to use Merle's guns and could defend herself. Besides, Merle would be home from work any time now. Carol continued to vacuum the black carpet in the bedroom until she was done with the man floor, bending the vacuum back so she could get under the bed.

The vacuum hit a large box and Carol frowned, she hadn't thought there was anything under the bed at all. She knelt down on the ground and turned off the vacuum, pulling the long black suitcase out from under the bed. At first Carol thought it might be a weapon case but she knew that it wasn't. All Merle's weapons were in one place, in a closet in the hallway. Carol picked up the box and set it down on the bed, sitting in front of the box. She ran her fingers over the box, biting down on her bottom lip. Carol knew she shouldn't be snooping in Merle's things but she was curious, anything could be in there. She popped open the locks and opened up the suitcase, her eyes widening.

"Holy shit." Carol whispered as she looked in the suitcase, reaching into the case to pick up a ball gag in her hand. She dropped the gag into the suitcase and picked up a blindfold. She didn't know what to make of the items in the box, how long had they been sitting under the bed? Had Merle used them on women before? Carol picked up a doll of duct tape that was almost all gone, taking a deep breath. He'd definitely used these before, used them a lot.

A lot of the things that Merle did during sex suddenly made sense, the way he'd hold her arms behind her when he took her from behind, the way he'd pin her down on the bed, the way he'd spank her, or the way he'd talk to her in bed. It all suddenly made sense. She had to admit, it sort of excited her. She liked the things that he did in bed though she never came out and told him that she didn't like it. Carol had never experienced anything like that before, didn't know if she was supposed to like it. But she did.

Carol bit down on her bottom lip and put the duct tape back into the suitcase before she picked up a paddle. Carol let out a whimper from her throat, setting the paddle back in place. She continued to look through the suitcase, picking up each of the items, staring at them with wide eyes and letting them fall back into the box.

Merle Dixon shut the door to his apartment, shrugging his jacket off and placing it on the table. "Carol?" He called out as he emptied his pockets onto the counter. When Carol didn't respond to him, he figured that she was taking a nap or couldn't hear him. Her purse was still sitting on the counter, so he knew she was home. Merle walked over to the fridge and opened the door, noticing that Carol must have cleaned out the fridge. "Must have been real bored." He mumbled and pulled a beer out of the fridge, shutting it as he opened the beer. He tossed the cap into the trash and took a drink of his beer, walking towards the bedroom.

He opened his mouth to wake up Carol, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw his girlfriend sitting on the bed with his secret suitcase wide open. Her eyes were wide open in surprise, but she didn't look disgusted or anything. In fact, she looked sort of aroused.

Merle had been waiting until the right moment to bring out the suitcase, to bring up the things that he liked to do in bed but there was never a time to bring it up. He knew it was weird and Carol was a honest to God good girl, there was no way she'd go for the shit he liked to do. Normally he just bought hookers when he was in the mood for it, but he couldn't do that now that he had Carol. And he loved her, so fucking much. He didn't want to lose her, which was why he never brought this up. He never figured there was any way she'd go for it. Always figured she'd think he was a sick freak and leave him. He'd rather bury all of his urges than risk that.

So he did things occasionally in bed like holding her arms behind her, he'd pin her down in bed occasionally, spank her, talk to her. While it wasn't the same, it quelled his urges, made it bearable to have mostly vanilla sex. And Carol never told him to stop, so he assumed that she liked it. He'd assumed that one day he'd bring it up to her, but he'd been working on keeping his urges suppressed. It was hard for him, but he loved Carol and he wouldn't hurt her.

But _fuck, _she'd seen his suitcase, he knew he should have hid it better instead of shoving it under his bed. That was so fucking stupid, he should have known better. Merle leaned against the door frame and cleared his throat. "I see you found my dirty little secret." He said before taking a drink of beer.

Carol yelped and slammed the suitcase shut, turning her head and looking up at her boyfriend. He didn't look angry that she'd found the box, but she couldn't really read his face at all. His poker face was one that she wished to master. "I uh.. I was vacuuming and.." She trailed off, turning her attention back to the black suitcase. She turned her head and looked back at him as Merle walked over to the bed and sat on the other side of the bed. He didn't say anything, but he did offer the beer he was drinking. Carol almost immediately took it from him and she brought it up to her mouth, drowning almost half the bottle.

"I was gonna tell ya about.. this.." He said, nodding towards the suitcase as she handed the beer bottle back to Merle. "When it was the right time." He reached behind him and scratched the back of his neck, looking at Carol again.

"When's the right time to bring up..." Carol opened the suitcase again and lifted the ball gag up just high enough that Merle could see it. "This?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Merle snorted and took another drink of his beer. Carol returned the ball gag back to the suitcase and pushed the open suitcase aside.

Merle shrugged his shoulders and tapped his fingers along the bottle. She scooted close to him and sat cross legged next to him. He glanced at her and tried to read her face. Christ, she had such a good poker face. He couldn't tell what she was thinking. "I dunno. Once we're already married and yer already stuck with me?" Carol's top lip twitched, Merle had basically just told her he wanted to marry her. They hadn't even been together a year yet, but Carol knew that Merle was the one for her.

Carol was curious about the items in the suitcase, biting down on her bottom lip. "So is it... You like having this done or doing it?" She asked nervously.

Merle's eyes snapped up to hers and he snorted. "Shit, baby, I ain't ever gonna let some bitch do this shit to me." He said. So it was that he did it to people, to women. Carol chewed on her bottom lip and glanced back at the box. She didn't know what she was feeling right now, she was equal parts excited and nervous. Merle opened his mouth to ask if she wanted to try, but she cut him off.

"So.. You've done that stuff with... women?"

Merle scoffed and opened his mouth to make a joke about doing it with men, but he choose to just answer her. "Hookers and junkies that'd do anything for an ounce." He shrugged. With those bitches, he didn't give shit about whether or not they felt any pleasure from what he was doing, he only cared about what he got out of it. He wanted again to ask if she wanted to try it, but couldn't find the words to ask her.

Carol reached forward and took the beer bottle from him, taking a quick sip of it before setting it back in his hand. "Explains a lot of things." She said softly, taking a deep breath. Merle raised an eyebrow and glanced at her.

"Yeah? Like what?"

Carol smiled softly and bit down on her bottom lip. "Holding my arms behind me, the spanking, the talking.." Merle cleared his throat and ran his thumb over his bottom lip.

"Do ya uh.. Like when I do that?" He asked, staring down at the beer bottle in his hand. "I mean, ya ain't ever told me to stop doin' it but ya ain't told me to keep doin' it either."

Carol pushed a strand of her shoulder length brown curls away from her face, taking a deep breath. "It's... Kind of exciting. I never told you I liked it... Cause... Cause.. I didn't want you to think I was some kind of slut." She admitted.

Merle scoffed. "Come on, Carol, I ain't ever gonna think something like about ya. I mean unless ya slept with like a hundred men." He looked up at her and brought his hand up to her face, cupping the side of her face.

She started to laugh and shook her head. "No, not even in the double digits." Merle leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers as tenderly as Merle Dixon could.

"Is this.. This somethin' ya'd be willing ta do?" He asked nervously, his fingers fidgeting. Carol licked her lips and swallowed, taking a deep breath.

"I'd be willing to try it... I mean, our sex life isn't just about me getting off and enjoying myself, it's about you getting off as well."

Merle's stomach jumped into his throat, she was agreeing to try what he liked to do in bed. His mind started running a million miles an hour, thinking about what he could do to her. Fuck, he wanted to do everything to her. There were so many days that all he wanted was to hogtie her in the morning and go to work then return to have her hogtied and waiting for him. Course, he wouldn't dream of suggesting that – not anytime soon.

Carol gave Merle a smile, she'd never seen him look more relieved and happy. She bit down on the inside of her cheek. "What uh... What do you want to do?" She asked, running her fingers over his shoulders.

_Shit, she wanted this now? Damn. _Merle looked at her and scratched his chin in his hand. He figured the best place to start would with be restraints. All he had was handcuffs and rope, he didn't want to use that on her. "Restraints probably, tie ya up and blindfold ya. Alright?"

Carol took a deep breath, she was slightly nervous about him doing that. She had issues being in small places, being constricted. She never told Merle that. But their bed was large, there was a lot of room. She would be okay, Merle cared for her and she knew that if she wanted him to stop, he'd stop. She swallowed and nodded. "Ye-Yeah." She agreed.

"Now when I ask ya something or tell you to do something, I need ya to answer. Alright?" Merle asked.

Carol bit the inside of her cheek, she was feeling more nervous about this with each second. "Okay."

Merle leaned over and set the beer on the end table, turning his head and pressed his lips against the side of her face. He leaned back and shut the suitcase, locking it up and moving to put it back until the bed again. Carol frowned and watched him, she thought they were going to use something from that. Merle came back on the bed and hovered his body over hers, holding his weight above her. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, bringing his hand up to cup her face, stroking her face with his thumb.

Carol returned his kiss and brought her hands up to cup the side of his neck in her hands, letting out a soft moan against his mouth. "Merle, I thought.." She trailed off against his lips. Merle dragged his mouth along her jawline, breathing heavily against her neck.

"Ain't gonna use the rope or handcuffs on ya, not on yer first time." Merle said, kissing over her soft flesh. "Use something softer."

Carol leaned her head back into the pillow, licking her lips. "One of my scarfs would work, right?" She asked. Merle nodded against her neck, lifting his head from her neck.

"You'll tell me if you want it to stop?" He asked. Carol nodded in agreement. "I need you to say it out loud." Merle's voice was gentle but it was firm, she'd never heard it sound like that before. His voice and the way he was looking at her sent shivers down her spine, a warmth pooling between her legs.

She lifted her head and looked down at Merle, catching his eyes. He reached up and grasped her jaw, forcing her to stare at him. "I'll tell you if I want you to stop." Carol promised.

"Alright, get up. I want you to take all your clothes off." Merle ordered. Carol took a breath and moved from underneath Merle, climbing off the bed and standing in front of him as Merle sat up on the bed, pressing his feet into the floor. "Slowly."

Nodding, Carol brought her hands up to the button down blouse she was wearing, starting to unbutton it. Merle leaned back against the bed and watched as her pale flesh became exposed to him. Carol dropped the red shirt to the floor and brought her hands up to pull her tank top over her head. Merle licked his lips and stared up at his girlfriend, nodding to encourage her. She reached back and undid her bra, letting the straps of her bra fall down her shoulders as she covered her breasts, the pink material falling at her feet. He smirked as she turned around, letting out a low chuckle.

Carol loved the way Merle reacted to her, she never felt more beautiful than when she was with Merle Dixon. She kicked off her tennis shoes, undid the button and zipper of her jeans and she slowly wiggled out of her jeans. When they went down to the middle of her thighs, Carol made a show of bending over as she removed her jeans. Merle smirked and stared at her perfect ass, reaching over to smack the soft flesh of her ass, grasping her cheek in his hand. Carol yelped and turned her head to look at him. He grinned like a devil at her, causing her to giggle softly. She stood to her feet and slipped her fingers through the waist band of her lace underwear, slowly pulling them down to her ankles. She stepped out of them and kicked the pile of clothing away from her, removing her socks and tossing them off to the pile.

Merle stood to his feet and walked over to her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back against him. He held her arms against her sides, letting out a low growl. "Yer so fuckin' beautiful, ya know that?" Merle said into her ear, bringing his hand up and wrapping a large hand around one of her breasts. Carol let out a soft moan and leaned back against him, letting out a soft gasp when she felt his erection pressing into her back. He massaged one of her breasts in his hand, rolling her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. He pulled on the bud, listening to the whimper that escaped her throat. "I can't wait to bury my cock deep inside ya, I fuckin' love being balls deep inside yer cunt. Want to do it every single fuckin' day." Carol pushed back against him, really wishing she could feel his cock right now.

"Merle.." She moaned loudly.

Merle smirked and he moved to the other breast, rolling the other nipple between his thumb and forefinger. She moaned and whimpered against him, pushing back against him once again. "Go get me your longest scarf, then put your hair up, okay?" He directed. Carol licked her lips, letting out a whimper at the lose of touch while he pulled away from her. She nodded quickly and Merle brought his hand down on her bottom roughly. "Out loud, say it."

She really needed to learn that, respond when he spoke to her. She liked this a lot more than she thought she would. "Okay." Merle nodded and he moved back to the bed and sat down as he waited for Carol. He pulled his shirt off and tossed it somewhere on the floor, watching as Carol rummaged through her scarves to pick out her longest one. It was one that her mom had gotten her for Christmas last year. Probably not how her mom imagined she'd use it. She picked up a hair tie off her dresser and returned to the bed, standing in front of Merle again. Merle took the scarf from her and nodded.

Yes, this scarf would do. "Hair up." He reminded. Carol pulled her hair back into as high of a ponytail as she could; Merle's intense gaze on her the whole time. "Yer so fucking gorgeous." Merle said. Carol felt a blush form on her face as she stood completely bare in front of Merle. She didn't know what to do with her arms now as she waited for his next instruction. She set her hands on her hips before holding them behind her then crossed her arms just under her chest. Merle watched her with a hint of amusement on his face. "Get on the bed on yer knees, back facing me." Merle said.

Carol was thankful for the instruction, for something to busy herself with. "Okay." She said and climbed up on the bed on her knees, looking at the wall. She heard Merle move behind her, bringing the scarf up to her eyes, wrapping the scarf around her eyes. He tied it loosely, leaning forward to press his lips back against her lips.

"Can ya see?" He asked. There was something about having his breath against her skin like that that turned her on so fucking much. She shook her head, letting out a soft gasp when Merle used the scarf to tug her head back. "What did I tell you earlier?"

Carol shut her eyes from underneath the scarf. "To respond you when you ask me or tell me something."

"Alright. Now. Can ya see?" He asked again.

"No." She answered. Merle smirked softly and pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, wanting her to be completely comfortable. Normally, Merle wouldn't give a shit if the girl he was about to fuck was comfortable, but this wasn't a hooker or some junkie bitch. This was his girlfriend.

Merle reached down and grabbed her right arm and pulled it back, tying her wrist to the end of the scarf. He did the same thing with the other one, giving a light tug on it. "Are you okay?"

Carol was breathing heavily, her breaths coming in quickly. She tested how it felt, a relieved sigh escaping from her lips. She didn't hate what was going on, she wasn't freaking out. "I'm okay." She said softly. Merle pressed another soft kiss against her soft skin. "I love you." She said softly, turning her head to the side.

"Love you too." Merle mumbled against her flesh, pulling his hands away from her so he could undo his jeans and push them down to the mid of his thighs. "Keep your head like that." He said as he stood off the bed to kick his jeans and boots off.

"Okay." She said as he returned behind her on the bed. Merle pressed his hand into the middle of her back and he pushed her forward until Carol was pressed against the bed with her ass in the air. She shut her eyes and her tongue darted out to lick her lips. Merle's hands came up and he pushed open her legs, settling between her legs. He reached down and grasped his cock in his hand, giving his length a few slow strokes before he lined his cock up with her entrance. He let out a soft groan at how wet she already was. She seemed to be enjoying it, Merle liked that. He pushed his cock into her slowly until he was completely inside of her, moving both of his hands to grasp her hips. He listened to the partially muffled moan that escaped her mouth, his cock twitching in response. Merle pulled her back against him, keeping himself buried inside of her for a few moments before he started to thrust into her.

His thrusts were slow and deliberate, pulling his cock almost completely out of her before he'd push back into her slowly, making her feel every inch of his cock as he penetrated her. Every time Carol tried to push back against him, his fingers would tighten around her waist to hold her in place. Carol flexed her hands, trying to reach her fingers out to just touch part of him, any part of him. "Merle..." She gasped as his thrusts stayed slow and teasing.

Merle smirked as he thrusted into her, she had no idea how hard it was for him to not pound into her, not fuck her into oblivion until she was screaming his name. "Yeah, baby girl? Ya want somethin'?" He asked. His girlfriend nodded quickly, letting out a whimper.

"Yes..." She gasped. Merle moved his hands to grasp her ass in his hands, massaging her firm cheeks with his hands.

"What do ya want?" Merle asked. When Carol tried to push back against him again, Merle pushed on her ass to keep her in place. He opened his mouth to threaten to beat her ass if she kept moving, but he decided against it. Not now, it was her first time doing anything kinky like this. He didn't want to push her too far.

Carol gave in on trying to push back against him or grab at her boyfriend, she let out a strangled groan before speaking. "Fuck me, Merle. Fuck me hard." She pleaded, squeezing her eyes shut under the scarf tied around her eyes.

Merle drew breath in through his teeth, briefly shutting his eyes for a few seconds. Carol didn't say 'fuck' often, so it was fucking sexy when she did. "Yeah, ya want me to fuck ya real hard?" He asked, fighting with himself to keep his thrusts as slow as he was keeping them. Merle gave her one fast sharp thrust into her cunt, Carol letting out a cry of pleasure.

"Yes! Please, fuck me!" Merle moved his hands from her ass to grab both of her wrists and used them to pull her up so her back was pressing against his chest. He moved her arms around the back of his neck. Carol didn't need to be told, she laced her fingers together and pressed them into the back of Merle's neck. He wrapped an arm around her waist and began to thrust up into her, his slow place forgotten and replaced with a quick, sharp pace.

Merle attached his mouth to her ear, his left hand finding it's way between her legs, fingers finding her clit and rubbing the bundle of nerves with his calloused fingers. His right hand rest on her side, holding her body firmly against his.

"Ya like that, baby? Like the way I'm fuckin' ya?" Merle asked.

Carol's mouth parted open as he thrust up into her, trying to focus on something; his cock inside of her, his fingers against her clit or his mouth against her neck. Every one of her senses were overloaded, she tried to focus on everything at once. A sharp tug of her hair reminded her that Merle had asked her a question and she swallowed. "Yes, sir."

Merle's cock twitched as she called him 'sir' and his arm returned around her waist, picking his thrusts and the movements of his fingers up and in sync. Fucking Carol like this was exactly what he needed, he had missed getting to do stuff like this. Fucking the hookers and junkies like this was great, but getting to fuck his actual girlfriend like this was something else. It heightened it. Testing Carol's boundaries, Merle moved his hand up to cup her throat gently, leaving his hand there when he sensed no tension.

Carol's nails began to dig into his skin as she felt her orgasm bubbling in her groin, her walls already tightening around his cock. Feeling her walls squeeze his cock, Merle smirked and he bit down on her shoulder, picking up his thrusts. Carol was basically screaming with each of his thrusts, his grunts covered by her screams.

"Wanna come for me, baby?" He asked. A barely intelligible 'yes' escaped from her throat. Merle lifted Carol up and pushed them both forward, pressing Carol into the headboard. "Come for me, Carol." He growled into her ear. It only took a few more thrusts to bring Carol over the edge and she let out a loud cry, squirming and twitching against Merle's chest. Merle felt the familiar sting of Carol's nails drawing blood against his neck and he hissed. The hand on her throat tightened as his balls tightened and he came inside of her, his thrusts slamming her against the headboard.

Carol's eyes widened at his hand tightened around her neck, but he still wasn't hurting her so she didn't do anything about it. Being slammed into the headboard however, did hurt. Her cries of pleasure turned into cries of pain, which Merle didn't detect until he came out of his post orgasm haze.

Merle untangled himself from Carol and he pulled her hands from around his neck, untying the scarf from her wrists and her eyes. Still buried deep inside of her, Merle rest his forehead on her shoulder as the both of them caught their breaths.

Once he caught his breath, Merle pulled out of her and tugged her onto the bed to lie with him, wrapping his arms around her. Carol had been surprised after the first time she and Merle had sex to find out that he was a post coitus cuddler. Merle buried his head in her neck, trailing soft kisses along her neck. "Ya okay?" He asked moments later.

Carol adjusted slightly and she turned to rest on her side and faced him. "Yeah... Really surprised I liked it that much." Carol admitted, running her hand up Merle's naked chest. "Also surprised at the neck thing.."

Merle quickly realized what she was talking about, his hand had tightened on her throat when he came. "Shit, M'sorry." He mumbled.

"No, I mean... It was pretty hot, I was just surprised." Merle looked up at her and he tightened his arms around her.

"Ya know I'd never hurt ya on purpose, right?" He asked. Carol smiled softly and nodded, leaning forward to kiss his lips softly. When she pulled away, she noticed the blood on the back of his neck.

"Merle, you're bleeding!" Carol exclaimed, sitting up in bed as much as Merle would allow.

"Ain't nothing. Had worse." He said, tugging her back into the bed. Carol frowned, but lied back in the bed with Merle. "Somethin' ya might want to try again?" He asked, hoping that she'd say yes.

Carol considered it. She had liked it a lot more than she ever thought she would, Merle had made it exciting for her, made her want it again. She was nervous about it, but she wanted it again. Wanted to try more things with him. She never felt more alive than she did right now. "Yeah... Think we need to come up with a safe word though.. I've heard about those, right?"

Merle frowned, worrying that he had hurt her and that was why she wanted one now. "Did I hurt ya?" He asked.

"Only when you slammed me into the headboard repeatedly." Carol admitted, tilting her head to the side. "I'm fine, but... It's just cautionary, right? Better to have one now than to not have one and need it later."

Merle nodded slowly, she was right. "Alright... What're ya thinking?"

"Um..." Carol bit down on the inside of her cheek. "Okay, how about... Pineapples?" Carol asked. "You wouldn't miss it if I started saying 'pineapples' in the middle of being fucked."

"Pineapples... Sounds good." Merle hated the disgusting fruit, knew Carol did as well. He wouldn't miss if she started saying 'pineapples' during sex, even if she was gagged. Carol leaned up and pressed her lips into Merle's, her hand coming up to cup the side of his neck.

"Think I can tie you up sometime?" She asked against his lips.

The idea of being tied up and at Carol's mercy both turned Merle on and terrified him. He'd never let any of the women he'd fucked before do that. Merle mumbled against her lips as he kissed her. "Pineapples."


	17. A Bit (You Found Me verse)

**So this acts as a sequel to You Found Me. TheRealSonia asked a few questions that I thought it would be good to answer. I really hadn't intended on it getting so long or so far away from me. I considered posting it in two parts, but ended up deciding against it. **

**Anyway, I hope those still reading enjoy it!**

**Oh, I've gone back through and edited all of the chapters, fixed typos and added stuff/taken some stuff out. If you want to, go back through and check out some of the changes. Some of them have big changes, some don't. **

* * *

Carol was sitting in the living room of the cabin, sharpening her knife while Merle slept on the couch behind her. They'd been up since before sunrise, resetting their traps. Several walkers had fallen into them the night before and they needed to clean them out, get rid of the walkers so they didn't attract any others or get too full. They cleaned out the walker traps, then checked their game traps. Still nothing. It was getting harder and harder for them to hunt, they had to go further and further away from the cabin. Carol tried suggesting moving on and finding a new place, but Merle wasn't having any of that. He liked his cabin.

So when they got their work done, Carol went in and made them something to eat and Merle took a nap, Carol went about sharpening their knives. She started with her hunting knife, that was set aside on the table, then went onto sharpen the knife that was normally attached to Merle's arm. She was using just a leather strap, which just made it difficult for her to do it properly but she had to make due with what she had.

Carol finished Merle's knife and held it up before turning around and taking Merle's hand. She brought the knife up to his arm and dragged the blade along his arm. Carol smiled when the knife cut several of the airs on his arm, glancing up up at Merle. He was coming out of his daze, opening his eyes to see his girlfriend with a knife against his arm. "Fuck are ya doing?" Merle asked, sitting up.

"I had to make sure your knife was sharp enough." Carol said as she pulled the knife away from his arm and set it down on the table next to the couch. "What'd ya want me to do, shave my legs with your knife?" She asked, turning back around.

"Might make sleeping in bed with you more bearable." Merle joked as he started to sit up. Carol let out a laugh and turned her head around to look at him.

"Go fuck yourself, Merle." She said and started to put away her tools.

Merle started to laugh, leaning down to press his lips against her covered shoulder. "I'd rather fuck you." Carol laughed softly and turned her head to the side, letting his mouth trail across her neck until she heard their alarm systems being set off.

Carol attempted to pull away from Merle. "Merle, do you hear that?"

"Yeah, that's my dick saying 'Suck me, Carol'." He mumbled against her skin. Carol laughed softly but pulled herself from him.

"No, Merle, it's the alarms. Someone is setting them off."

Merle frowned at Carol's statement, he was sure that she was just hearing things."Probably just a few walkers, ain't nothing to worry about." Merle said.

Carol rolled her eyes as Merle so quickly dismissed what she had heard. She knew the different between the sound of a Walker walking around out there and the different between the footsteps of a fucking human. She'd been taught to track people and Walkers by the two best trackers she could have hoped to find – Merle and Daryl Dixon. She could tell the difference between Walkers and humans and could have told who was coming close when she was back at the prison. There was no way in hell that this was a Walker and she knew it. "No, that's not Walkers. It's too fast to be a Walker." She argued, standing to her feet. Merle shut his eyes and let out a groan, leaning back into the couch.

She was convinced it was a person, Merle needed to take her seriously. "Who the fuck would be out here?" He mumbled as she sat up, picking up his knife from the table. He attached it to his arm and watched as she picked up her pistol, checking to make sure it was loaded. Merle picked up his own pistol, made sure it had enough ammo. "Tellin' you it's probably just a Walker movin faster than normal." Carol looked back at him and glared at him.

"I can tell the difference between a Walker and a damn person, Merle. You and Daryl taught me better tracking than that." She snapped. Merle held his arms up in defeat, giving her a quick nod.

Stroking his ego certainly did help make him believe her. "Alright, alright. I believe you." Merle said, heading towards the door. "Go to the right, I'll head to the left. If you have to kill someone, try not to get blood on the cabin. Never gonna get that out."

"You're such a romantic, Merle." She said as he opened the door.

He reached forward and grabbed her arm with his hand and pulled her towards him, crashing his lips against hers. "Stay safe, alright?" He said against her lips. Carol smiled softly and nodded.

"No one can kill me but me." She said before pressing her lips against his. Merle smirked and brought his hand back, giving her bottom a quick pat. Carol left the front door with Merle, heading to the right while he went to the left. She walked around the cabin, glancing down at the ground.

She could tell there were fresh footprints in the dirt and they didn't look like the footsteps the walkers had. If she was correct, it was most definitely two humans that were around the cabin. Carol followed the footsteps, raising her gun into the air when she came upon a lone male. By the back of the head she was looking at, Carol could swear that she knew the person. _Is that... No, it couldn't be.. _She cocked her gun and pressed it to the back of his head.

Both of the mans hands came up in surrender. "I don't mean you harm, just looking for a place for the night. Got a wounded with me." He didn't turn around to face her.

_Son of a bitch, it is. _Carol's lips twitched in a smirk. "Hello, Rick." Carol said. Slowly, Rick Grimes turned to look back at, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Carol.." Rick said, staring at her.

"I bet you never thought you'd see me again, did you?" Carol said, her gun just inches away from Rick's face. "I bet you thought I was going to die." Fury built up in her stomach as she remembered the nights that she thought she was going to die. She would love to pull the trigger right now.

"Carol.." Carol's eyes snapped over to a second form that was coming towards her and Rick, recognizing the voice and the form. "Come on, it's just me, Glenn, and Rick." Daryl was helping Glenn walk, there was a bandana wrapped around his leg, obivously trying to stop bleeding. _So it did work, Glenn is alive. _

She turned her attention back to Rick. He was still staring at her in surprise, he hadn't moved at all, hadn't made any attempt to disarm. "No, it's just you, Glenn, and the man who left me out here with minimal supplies, barely any ammo and my knife. It's you, Glenn and the man who left me out here to die." She said as another set of footsteps started to come towards them. She figured they were Merle's. Her finger was firmly on the trigger and she was just begging Rick to give her a reason to pull it. "What happened to Glenn?"

"Got in some trouble with a group of bandits, Glenn got shot in the leg." Daryl said. Carol glanced over at Glenn again, he was slumped against Daryl's body, clearly going in and out of consciousness. It wasn't Glenn's fault that Rick had banished her, she couldn't let him suffer and she could easily bandage him up, give him stitches.

"Now, I wouldn't do that if I were you, Officer Friendly." Merle's voice broke through the tension, Carol turned her head to see that Rick had started to go for his weapon while she was looking at Glenn. Merle had come up behind Rick, pressing the tip of his knife against Rick's cheek. Rick slowly turned his attention to Merle, surprised that the man was alive. "Yeah, I'm alive too. Bet yer real happy to see us now ain't ya?"

"Merle?" Daryl asked, blinking at his brother. With his knife still against Rick's cheek, Merle turned his head to look at his brother and flashed a grin at him.

"Hey little brotha. What? Did ya think I was dead out here?" Merle said, taking note of Glenn's injury. "Has the Governa given ya any trouble lately? Oh... Wait, I killed that motherfucker. You're all welcome, by the way." Carol looked between them. "Wait? Ain't no one gonna thank me?"

"We're just looking for a place to stay tonight, get Glenn back on his feet so we can get back to the prison." Rick said, looking between Merle and Carol. She kept her gun on Rick as she came around to stand next to Merle, turning her head and speaking low so that they could talk and only be heard with each other.

Carol leaned her mouth towards his ear and pressed her free hand to his side, attempting to keep Merle calm. She could feel his rage from where she was originally. "We have to let them stay, have to help Glenn out."

No. Fuck no. Merle didn't like that at all, even if it was his little brother. He might have made his amends with Glenn, but he still didn't care for him. Fuckin' hated Rick as much as he hated his Daddy. "Ain't we both done enough for these assholes? The Governor, that sickness. Clearly what ya did fuckin' worked if he's alive. So now we gotta give them a place to fuckin' sleep and give 'em our fuckin' food? Fuck no, we're low on supplies anyway."

Carol took a breath, understanding his anger and glancing back at Daryl and Glenn before looking back at Merle. "I don't want to either, Merle, but we aren't turning Glenn away. Or your brother." She ordered. "Unfortunately, Rick is simply part of the package right now." She briefly glanced at Rick, who was watching them intently. Carol turned her attention back to Merle. "Glenn'll be up after a day and they'll be gone."

It was Merle's turn to look at Rick, the tip of his knife still pressed into Rick's face that if he made any sudden move, he was going to get cut. "Can't promise I won't knock him out." He said. Carol couldn't help the grin that formed on her face at the idea of Merle knocking him out. She stood on her toes and pressed her lips against his ear.

"Make sure you do it while I'm around so I can watch." She said. Merle smirked at Carol's response and, despite Daryl and Rick staring at them, pressed his lips forcibly against Carol's. When she pulled away, she lowered her gun, uncocked it and slipped it back in her holster. "At least attempt to behave." She joked before she walked over to where Daryl and Glenn were and she knelt down, pulling the bandana down to check out the wound.

"You good?" Daryl asked Carol, looking down at her. Carol looked up at him as she checked out the wound.

"I'm fine." She assured.

Daryl glanced at his brother who was still staring down Rick as if he was daring Rick to do something stupid or say something stupid. Was barely paying any attention to him or Glenn. "How did ya find this place?" Carol tightened the bandana around his leg and stood to her feet.

"I'm not as helpless as you seem to have thought I was back at the prison. Maybe if you had noticed that, things would be different." Carol said, just low enough so that only Daryl heard. She turned back around to look at Merle and Rick. "It's a through and through. He'll be fine with some rest and stitches, something to eat when he wakes up." The woman said. Carol looked back at Merle then back to Rick. "You better be out of here the second the Glenn can walk on his own. I won't have you here." She mimicked Rick's statement from when he banished her and wrapped her arm around Glenn's waist, helping Glenn walk towards the cabin.

Merle used the knife to turn Rick's head towards him and he leaned in close. "Yer fuckin' lucky I don't slit your throat here 'n now for what ya did to Carol. Ya might be the boss at the prison, but 'ere? This is my place, ya step out of line and nothin' will stop me from bashing yer fuckin' in. Not Carol, not my baby brotha. Nothin'" He threatened.

Rick kept eye contact with Merle, but the mans warning struck him to his core. "You know what she did right?"

"Course I know what the fuck she did. And I seem to remember a certain sheriff that left me on a fuckin' roof to die." Merle reminded, digging the knife into his skin until a small prick of blood appeared on his skin. "Give me a reason to do it, please." Merle and Rick stared each other down until a voice from the cabin pulled Merle out of his murderous rage.

"Merle! Get your ass in here!" Carol called out to him from inside the cabin. Merle stared down Rick for a few more seconds before he pulled his knife away from Rick and walked past him. Rick took a moment to get his bearings before he turned around and followed Merle Dixon into the cabin.

Carol knelt down by Glenn again and pulled the bandana from around the wound again, discarding it. Daryl watched from a few feet away from the couch, watching as his brother walked over to Carol and slipped a hand on her shoulder. Carol glanced up at him as she pulled her knife out of her boot and used it to cut a hole in Glenn's pants, glancing back at Merle. "My kit's in the bedroom, will you go get it?" Merle nodded and glanced at Rick then his brother before leaving her in the living room with them. She didn't actually need Merle in here, but she figured it was best to get him away from Rick.

"When did he get shot?" Carol asked, lifting her head to look up at Daryl.

"'This mornin'. We were on a supply run, guess they didn't like us takin' their shit." He said, leaning against the edge of a chair. Daryl opened his mouth to speak but silenced as Merle returned from the back and handed Carol a small pack. The air in the room was thick with tension as Carol worked on Glenn, stitching his wound. Daryl was staring at Merle, who was staring at Rick, who was staring at Carol. When Carol was finished with stitching Glenn up, she put her supplies away and stood to her feet, leaving the room to return the pack to her room. She used a water bottle filled with creek water to wash her hands off and then returned to the living room, finding that Rick had left and went back outside. Daryl had stayed in the room for a little bit longer before he spoke.

"So you two still.." He asked, trailing off. Carol looked up at him and then at Merle. Was she supposed to tell him that yes, she and his brother had picked up their relationship after she returned to him? Or was she supposed to lie to him?

Thankfully, Merle answered the question for her. "Yeah, we are, little brotha. Why? Ya wanna watch, that kiss wasn't good enough?"

Carol's eyes widened and she slowly turned her head up to look at Merle. Both Daryl and Carol picked up the nearest object (for Daryl, it happened to be a discarded beer can from whoever lived here before and for Carol, it was the leather strap she'd been using to sharpen her knife earlier) and tossed the items at Merle. Merle dodged each of the items, a grin on his face.

Daryl looked between them, Carol looked decently well, so did his brother. It had been months since Rick had returned from a supply run and told him that he had banished Carol. He'd been angry with Rick for doing it, but was also angry with Carol for telling Rick. She should have just taken his advice and told him no, she hadn't done it. There was no actual proof that Carol had actually done it, she could have easily lied. If she had just taken his advice, she wouldn't have had to leave the prison.

"I'm going to finish that laundry from earlier." Carol trailed off and she turned around, leaving the room. It wasn't as nice as it was getting to wash clothes at the prison, but it did the job. She gathered her and Merle's clothes in her arms and went down to the stream, kneeling by the water and beginning to wash the clothes.

She was finished with Merle's clothing and halfway through her own clothes when she heard footsteps behind her. If it was Merle, he would have made his presence known by now. Carol reached back and grabbed her gun, standing to her feet and aiming, coming face to face with Rick Grimes again. "What do you want?" Carol asked.

Rick raised his hands in surrender. "Just want to talk." He said. Carol frowned and holstered her gun again and nodded.

"Fine. So talk." She said before turning around to return to her clothes. Rick came closer and stood just a few feet behind her.

"I stand by my decision." Rick stated, kneeling down by Carol.

"As I expect you to. I stand by mine too. Glenn's still alive, so I'm assuming it worked." She said as she continued to wash her clothing items. "I respect your decision, Rick, I understand it. But you left me with minimal supplies, barely any ammo. You left me with nothing, left me to die. But you're really good at leaving people to die, aren't you?" Rick didn't respond to her, so she continued. "The day I did it... Karen didn't know what was happening. She was so far gone, she wouldn't have made it through the night." When she'd done it, she hadn't told Rick about how she'd done it. Just that she did do it.

Rick glanced at Carol, pressing his forearms into his knees. "And David?" He asked. Carol rinsed out her last pair of underwear, dropping it on the pile of her clothing items.

"David was dead when I got there. All I did was stop him from coming back." Carol gathered the clothing items in her hands and she stood to her feet, walking up the small hill.

Rick followed. "You didn't mention that." Carol glanced at him as they walked.

"Would it have changed your mind?" She asked. He thought for a moment and shook his head. "That's why I didn't mention it." Carol left Rick to think about what she said, heading back up to the cabin. Carol strung the clothes out on a laundry line that Merle had put it up, turning her head to the side to see Merle and Daryl having what seemed like an intense conversation.

* * *

Merle found his little brother out in the woods about ten feet from the cabin, sitting on the ground against one of the trees. He squinted as he looked down at his brother. "Ya need a fuckin' haircut. Startin' ta look like a fuckin' girl." Daryl looked down at his brother and blew out air through his nose. Merle could tell something was on Daryl's mind and he was sure what it was. "Come out with it, brotha." Merle leaned against the tree and crossed his arms over his chest; he had removed his knife back when he was in the house. The weapon was good for fighting off walkers but it wasn't good for much else. He glanced over at Daryl again before letting his eyes trail along the trees, thinking about the last time he'd been so close to a tree when he and Carol had fucked against a tree.

"You and Carol... How'd that start?" He asked, keeping his eyes out on the woods. Merle snorted and glanced at his brother. Couldn't he have asked about anything else? Christ, ask him how he does his pants up with one fucking hand. Merle had a feeling Daryl wouldn't let it go, that he'd have no choice but to tell his brother about how he fell in love with the woman he'd also been pining over.

Merle had been attracted to Carol when he first showed up at the prison, she was a beautiful woman. He would have had to be blind to not see that. But it was realizing that she wasn't the same woman at the quarry that really drew him to Carol. She didn't back down from him and he knew he was an intimidating person. She was the only one that was upfront with him, that would talk to him like he was an actual person, not a monster that you had to walk on eggshells around. It had come out of nowhere, not like he went out of his way to fall in love with Carol. "Ain't none of your fuckin' business, Daryl." Daryl scoffed. "Between me, Carol and the big man upstairs."

Merle watched his brother stand to his feet and pace the distance between the two trees. "Ya ain't fuckin' stupid, ya got eyes! Clearly, ya got ears too. Ya had no fuckin' idea there was _something _between she and I, right?"

Loud laughter escaped from Merle Dixon, resting a hand on his stomach as he laughed. "Give me a fuckin' break, Daryl, you weren't gonna do shit about whatever she might have _felt _for ya. You weren't gonna do anything, ya were gonna bitch around about it and whine because ya were too much of a chicken shit to do anything about it!" Daryl stopped pacing and he glared at his older brother. "Nothing was ever gonna fuckin' happen between you two. It was only a matter of time before someone _man enough_ came along, saw how fuckin' awesome she was and 'stole' her out from under ya."

"You don't know shit, Merle." Daryl growled.

"I don't know shit!? That's fuckin' rich, Daryl. Ya couldn't even _see _that she was fuckin' yer brother, did ya? Yeah, she told me about how ya reacted, you had _no _idea that I was bangin' her the whole time I was at the prison, shit even when you were in the next fucking cell. You had _no _idea she was slipping from your grasp because you weren't paying fucking attention to her." Merle antagonized his brother. "Shit, probably would have never found out if she hadn't told ya what I did, how I took off, how I told 'er to come look for me when it was time. Because I knew. I knew some shit was gonna go down and Carol was step up and end up the odd man out."

Daryl's fists clenched repeatedly, glancing back at the cabin. Merle had been living out here for months, just sitting around and waiting for Carol. "What did you do when Rick told you he'd banished Carol, hmm? Did ya go looking for her? Did ya fight him on it?" Daryl was silent, giving Merle the answers that he needed. "Yeah, I didn't fuckin' think so." He said. "Ya lost her because you weren't gonna do shit about it. Don't get yer panties in a twist because ya weren't man enough to handle a woman like Carol." Daryl clenched his fist and he reeled his arm back, slamming his fist into his brothers jaw. Merle stumbled back, bringing his hand up to his jaw with a grin on his face. "Hey, ya grew some balls to hit me in the face! Good job, Darylina, I'm proud of ya. Ya feel better now?"

Daryl stared at his brother. He did feel a lot better getting to punch Merle in the face. "A bit." He said.

"Right. Now get the fuck over it and move on." Merle said, rubbing his jaw. His brother had a hard right hook, he was impressed. Daryl glanced at his brother, looking back towards the cabin. Carol had returned from washing her and Merle's clothes and she noticed them talking in the woods, Daryl couldn't tell if shed seen him punch Merle. He watched as Carol moved to hang their clothes up, then looked back at Merle.

"Ya treat her good?"

Merle scoffed and shoved his brother away from him. "Fuckin' Christ, what do you think? Ya think I knock her around like her husband did ta her, like our Daddy did to Ma?" He was furious that Daryl would think he'd do that. He knew he was a fucking asshole at times, but did his brother really think he was that bad? "Does she look like she's here for any reason other than she fuckin' wants to be?"

Daryl and Merle turned to look at Carol as she finished hanging up the clothes, turning her head to glance at them. She didn't notice Daryl looking at her, but she noticed Merle staring at her. A smile formed on her face and she turned away, a blush creeping up on her face. Merle stared at her for a few more moments before turning to look back at Daryl. "I ain't sorry about what happened, don't expect me to be. And I ain't sorry about leavin'. Couldn't live under Rick's rule, ya didn't need me around, I was just gonna drag ya down."

"Just wanted my brotha back, didn't care about that shit." Daryl said, casting his eyes down at the ground. Merle scoffed.

"Get outta here, man. Soon as Glenn gets up on his feet, you all will be getting out of here and back to yer prison." Merle said.

"Maybe Rick will let ya come back with us." Daryl said hopefully. Even as he said it, he knew it was fucking stupid. Even if Rick wasn't in charge at the prison, he wasn't gonna let them come back. He'd told everyone at the prison what Carol had done, he'd been honest about it. The prison was split down the middle on what Rick should have done, the council was even more split.

Since Carol was gone, the council had become himself, Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, Tyreese and Hershel. Glenn, himself, and Hershel had thought he should have let her stay, they knew that the prison needed Carol. Maggie, Tyreese and Sasha thought he made the right choice, Tyreese had said that while he was thankful for his sisters life, he still didn't want her around - she had killed his girlfriend. Sasha stayed on Tyreese's side, simply because that was her brother. She agreed with what Carol had done – she was alive, so it worked. Sasha told Daryl that if she had the chance, she'd probably thank Carol for that.

Merle snorted. "Ya ain't stupid enough to believe that, Daryl. Rick isn't gonna let Carol come back and you couldn't drag me back to prison." Daryl knew Merle was right, Rick wasn't going to let them come back even though the prison needed Carol, those kids needed Carol.

"Keep a look out for those bandits out here. Didn't find them that far away." Merle smirked.

"I ain't worried, no one can kill Merle but Merle."

* * *

Despite the tension between Rick and Merle, the group went into the cabin where Carol and Merle prepared a dinner of rabbit meat and rice. Daryl and Rick watched them interact in the kitchen from the living room, Daryl wanting to bring up the idea of bringing them back to the prison but he knew that Rick wasn't going to change his mind about his decision. And Daryl couldn't stay here with them, that would just be weird and awkward – and the prison needed him. He was the only one that went out hunting for food and he went out every single day to go out looking for supplies. As much as Daryl didn't like it, they couldn't come back with him. He'd lose his best friend and his brother all over again.

Carol began to laugh almost uncontrollably at something Merle said, leaning over to rest her head on his shoulder. Merle looked proud of himself for making her laugh, Daryl wondered what he'd said to make her laugh so much. He glanced at Rick, who was watching them intently, like he was waiting for Merle to do something. It looked like Carol might have leaned up to kiss Merle but she noticed Daryl and Rick watching them from the living room.

"Come on and get some food, I'm not making you plates." Carol said after she and Merle made their own plates of the rice and rabbit. There wasn't much of it, but Carol wasn't about to eat food in front of Rick and Daryl and not let them any – even if Rick would deserve just that. Carol returned to the dining table and sat at the table next to Merle, eating slowly to savor the food that she had. Rick and Daryl almost followed them at the table but ended up deciding to eat in the living room where Glenn was.

Merle was tense again, knowing that Rick was sitting in his living room eating his food off his plate. Carol reached over and slipped her hand on his thigh, squeezing his thigh gently. "I'm just as unhappy with this as you are, alright?" She said, trailing her finger along his inner thigh. "Sure Glenn will be up in the morning, then we can get him something to eat and they'll be out of here."

He glanced down at the hand that was on his thigh, then back to his living room where Rick and Daryl were eating in silence. He knew that if Glenn was awake, Glenn wouldn't be able to shut up about the situation. "Keep doing that and I'll bend you over this table, don't care if they're here." Carol shuddered after he spoke, then glanced back at them. She leaned over and kissed his cheek and pulled her hand away from his thigh.

"Never mattered to you before, didn't expect you to suddenly care." She said softly as she stood to her feet and took both of their plates into the kitchen and set them in the sink. Carol glanced back at Rick and Daryl. "I'd offer you more food but we're running low." She said, glancing back at them. Daryl nodded at her, he was thankful for any amount of food he could get.

"Didn't have ta offer us anything." Daryl said as he stood to his feet and walked over to the sink to put his own dish. "We're appreciative of it. Ain't we, Rick?" He said as Rick followed him to put his dish in the sink.

"Yeah, real appreciative. Thank you, Carol." Rick gave Carol a swift nod. She stood awkwardly in the kitchen for a few minutes before Merle joined them to put his own dish away.

"Clean those up in the morning. It's getting late." Merle said, turning to look at Rick. "Since ya ate part of my dinner, ya can keep watch on the place for the night." He flashed a grin at Rick and slapped his hand on the mans shoulder. "Sure my brother would be more than willing to give ya a hand if ya need a little help." Carol rolled her eyes at Merle and shook her head.

Carol and Merle were both surprised by Rick agreeing to it. "Least we can do." Rick nodded and walked over to the door. Merle watched as Rick walked to the door and peeked out. It was safe out here, for the most part. In the last week they'd only had a few Walkers. Combine that with all the traps that they'd set up, they didn't need someone to keep watch. Carol knew that, Merle knew that, Daryl knew that too probably, hell Rick probably knew it. But Carol and Merle had done a lot for them, feeding them, giving them a place to stay and helping Glenn out, despite that if Merle had his way he would have sent them on their way the second they'd shown up.

Carol and Merle retreated to their bedroom after Rick and Daryl went off on watch. "You just wanted Rick out of the cabin." Carol said as Merle stripped over his over shirt and tugged his tank over his head, kicking his boots off. She walked over to the bed and sat down on it, unbuttoning her shirt and shrugging out of it.

"Yeah, I did. Don't like him being in my home." Merle said as he lied down on the bed, crossing his long legs.

"We couldn't send them away, Merle. Wasn't Glenn's fault what happened." Carol responded. Merle rolled over and sat up, leaning forward to press a soft kiss on her shoulder. She smiled softly and looked back at him.

"Rick's fault."

Carol laughed. "I'm the one that killed them, Merle." She turned to look at him and leaned over to kiss him gently, bringing his hand up to his face and cupped the side of his face. "Besides, brought me back to you, right?"

Merle snorted. "What, ya want me to go out there and thank Rick for leaving ya out to die because at least ya found yer way back here?" He asked.

Carol looked up at him as she leaned back in the bed, tangling her legs with his and wrapping her arms around his waist. "Didn't say that.. What were you and Daryl talking about when I came back from washing the clothes?" Carol asked.

No point in lying. "You." He answered.

"Explains the bruise on your jaw." Carol said and reached his hand up to his face, touching his jawline.

"Little brotha grew some balls." Merle said. Carol rolled her eyes at his comment and rest her hand on his chest. "Got it out in the open... Things that needed to be said." She smiled softly and lied her head down next to her hand. She and Merle had talked about her relationship with Daryl, about what could have happened between them. Carol didn't like thinking about it, it was far too weird for her to think about now. Carol missed his friendship the most out of everything from the prison – even the shower block. She sighed and rest against the bed, scratching under her chin. "I keep waiting for Rick to make some stupid ass comment, give me a reason to knock 'is ass out."

Carol laughed softly and looked up at him. "Since when did Merle Dixon need a reason for a fight?" She asked softly, running her hands down over his chest.

Merle looked down at Carol. "Ya giving me permission to just walk up to him and punch 'im in tha face?"

"Since when did Merle Dixon ask for a woman's permission for anything?" Carol asked. Merle laughed at her and shook his head.

"Maybe just before he's about to get the hell out out of here." He said. Carol rolled her eyes and leaned up to press her lips into Merle's she had more than enough of talking. Merle eagerly returned her kiss and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, holding her head in place against his. His other hand moved to run down her arm and over her stomach, quickly opening her pants and slipping his hand into her underwear. Merle didn't exactly care that his brother or the other assholes were here. If they wanted to have sex in their place, they sure as hell were going to.

As Merle's hand trailed into her underwear, his mouth moved and trailed down her throat. Carol leaned her head back and shut her eyes, letting out a soft moan. He lifted his hand up to pull her tank down over her breast when he was cut off by hearing Daryl's voice out in the house calling out for Carol. "Thought he and Rick were keeping watch." Merle frowned.

"So did I." Carol said and sat up, picking up her shirt and pulling it over her.

Merle groaned and leaned back in the bed, letting out a growl. "Fuckin' cock blocking me still after twenty years, goddamn." Merle grumbled. Carol looked back at him and rolled her eyes, picking up her shoes and stepping into them. She stood to her feet and zipped her pants back up.

"I'm sure I'll be right back." Carol said and left Merle alone in the bedroom. She flattened down her hair as she walked out to the living room, seeing Glenn sitting up on the couch. She smiled and returned to the living room.

Glenn looked up when he saw Carol coming towards him and a grin formed on his face. He'd missed his friend, even if he didn't agree with what she did – she saved his life; she'd done the right thing. Glenn pulled himself to his feet, despite the fact that his leg hurt like a bitch, and hugged Carol when she was close enough. She smiled and hugged Glenn, pulling away from him just enough to look at his face. "I'm happy to see you." Glenn told her. Carol's already large smile grew as Glenn sat down again and Carol leaned down to check out the wound and the stitches. They didn't look infected, if he was able to get back to the prison, where she knew they had antibiotics, soon he would alright. "How did you find this place, are you out here with someone?" Glenn asked.

Carol lifted her head up and looked at him as she replaced the bandage. "..Merle." She said.

Glenn looked up at Daryl, who had ducked his head down, then back at Carol. "Merle? As in Merle Dixon? Surprised he's even alive. Living out here with one hand." He commented. "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

"No." Carol said with a soft smile, standing to her feet. "When Merle decides it's time for him to sleep, nothing is going to stop him from sleeping short of an actual herd showing up and breaking down the door." She said. "I'm going to make you something to eat, hopefully you'll be okay in the morning to get back to the prison, to antibiotics." Carol said and walked into the kitchen to find the plate of rabbit meat and rice she'd set aside for him. Carol warmed it over a fire and returned to him, handing Glenn the plate.

Glenn didn't bother to ask if Carol was going to come back with them, as much as he wanted her to, it just wasn't going to happen and he knew that. "Thanks." He said, picking up the fork and beginning to eat. "For the food..My leg... Life." Carol reached over and squeezed his knee softly, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

"Eat and rest." She ordered and stood to her feet, glancing up at Daryl and giving him a soft smile.

"Can we talk?" Daryl asked. Carol smiled softly and nodded at him, walking out back to the back door. They went outside and stood in the darkness, looking at each other for a few minutes before Daryl spoke. "I miss ya. Miss having ya at the prison with me." Carol leaned against a tree and looked over at him as he spoke. "Being there, it ain't the same without ya. Not having ya to talk to. Miss that."

"You're the thing I miss most about the prison. That and the shower block." She admitted, a grin forming on her face. Daryl smiled softly and looked up at her. Carol tilted her head to the side and tears filled her eyes, she really had missed Daryl so much. Seeing him, she hadn't realized how much she'd missed him. "Me and Merle... I didn't do that to hurt you or get back at you... Really, it happened out of nowhere and when I realized I loved him, there was no going back from that." Daryl ducked his head down before looking back up at her.

"Yeah, I know." Daryl said. "Merle was right about one thing, I was too chicken shit to ever make a move on ya. Would have been doing that dance still if you were still there." He stood off the tree and walked over to her, looking down at her. He was just close enough that they could both see each other properly. "Are you happy?"

Carol looked up at him and licked her lips. "I'm happier than I could ever remember myself being." She admitted.

"Tha's all I want." Daryl said. Carol smiled softly and she leaned up to kiss his cheek gently.

"You're gonna go back to the prison tomorrow and someday, you're gonna find someone that will make you forget all about me." Daryl gave a small smile as she pulled away from him and stepped back. "How's Judith?"

"Good." Daryl said as he returned to the other side of the tree. "Crawling around a bunch, can't get her to stop moving. Not even for dinner." Carol laughed softly and she remembered what it was like when Sophia was that age. She brought her hand up to her face and wiped off the tears that formed in her eyes. "Lizzie and Mika are okay too. Lizzie's kind of... weird, though."

Carol's bottom lip trembled and she licked her lips. "Make sure they get taken care of, okay? Do that for me."

Daryl nodded. "Anything for you." He said in a low voice. Carol smiled and reached forward to wrap her arms around Daryl's shoulder. Daryl wrapped an arm around her waist and squeezed her side gently, hugging her for a moment longer than he probably should have. Carol pulled away from him and sighed.

"The next time you punch your brother.. Can you avoid the face?" Daryl let out a laugh and he shook his head.

"Probably not. You should probably get back inside. Merle's been watching us since we got out here." Carol turned her head and looked up at one of the windows, seeing Merle standing in the window. She laughed softly and waved at him.

She looked back to Daryl and pressed her hand to his arm. There was so much more she wanted to say but nothing she knew how to put into words. She smiled again and walked away from him, returning into the house and into her bedroom with Merle.

"Kissin' both Dixons now?" Merle asked, playing off an angry voice. Carol smiled and shut the door behind her, walking up behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Stop. Never kiss him like I've kissed you." Carol said and looked out the window. Daryl was walking back to the cabin now, back to where he and Rick were keeping watch. She reached forward and pulled the curtain back over the window, looking up at him. "Come on, let's go to bed, okay? It's been a long day." Carol pressed a soft kiss to his neck and grabbed his hand, pulling him back to the bed.

"Glenn gonna be alright?" He asked as Carol once again stripped over her shirt and her pants, kicking her boots off.

"Yeah. If they can get back to the prison and get antibiotics, he'll be fine." Carol sat on the bed and watched as Merle climbed into the bed. He stifled a yawn and Carol pulled the sheet over her lower half, rolling over to wrap her arms around Merle's waist when he was lying down in the bed. "You're gonna have to go hunting soon. Used the last of our rabbit meat tonight and I don't know how much squirrel we have left."

"Be fine if ya didn't make me feed Rick." He grunted. Carol rolled her eyes and lied her head on his chest as Merle put out their lantern. "Hope that motherfucker gets to leave tomorrow." Carol's lip twitched smiled slightly. She hoped that he would be gone but also hoped that they wouldn't. She wouldn't mind a few more days with Daryl and Glenn.

* * *

"He gonna be good ta walk?" Daryl asked as Carol checked Glenn out. She looked up at him after she replaced the bandage, shrugging her shoulders.

"I don't know, Glenn, can you walk?" She asked, leaning back against the couch. Glenn looked from Carol to Daryl then to Rick to Merle before he stood to his feet and attempted to walk the length of the living room. He didn't struggle too much, it was a bit sore.

"How ya feel, Glenn?" Rick asked as Glenn stopped in front of him.

Glenn almost wanted to tell him he needed another day to get ready, but he remembered that Carol said he still needed some antibiotics, and he wanted to go back to Maggie. "Bit sore, but I'll be good." Glenn said, glancing over at Carol on the couch. "Thanks, Carol."

"Anytime, Glenn." Carol smiled softly at him and stood to her feet. She didn't want to say goodbye to them, she wanted Daryl and Glenn to stay for a few more days. She loved being with Merle and having him all to herself, but she also missed her friends.

Carol crossed her arms over her chest and watched as they prepared themselves to leave. Merle walked up behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist. Daryl and Glenn walked out first, leaving Rick with just Carol and Merle.

"Friendly, wait up." Merle said and came around from behind Carol, walking up to Rick.

Rick looked up at Merle, opening his mouth to speak when he was cut off by Merle's fist slamming into his face.

"Merle!" Carol exclaimed, watching as Rick stumbled back.

"Fuck was that for?" Rick asked, holding the side of his face. He didn't punch back, stared up at Merle from his place against the wall.

"That was for... Well.. Just about everything." Merle said, shaking his left hand out. His punch didn't hurt near as hard as it could, his right hand was his dominant hand but that hand was long gone somewhere.

Carol looked up at Merle, walking up to him. "Feel better?" She asked.

"A bit."

* * *

**I'm curious about something. If you've been reading all the verses and have one that's your favorite/one you'd like to see me revisit, which one is it? I'm really curious about which of the verses I've written that people like the most. So if you have one, please let me know!**


	18. Clothesline (Wizard of Oz verse)

_**This is a follow up to the first chapter; Wizard of Oz. You are going to need to read that one to understand it (and you should reread it anyway because it went through some changes when I was editing old chapters.**_

I'm curious about something. If you've been reading all the verses and have one that's your favorite/one you'd like to see me revisit, which one is it? I'm really curious about which of the verses I've written that people like the most. So if you have one, please let me know! (I'll give up on asking after a few fics probably, or until I get some responses to my question... ;))

Happy reading!

Oh! Warnings: Attempted rape and murder, mentions of abuse, mentions of murder.

* * *

"_This would be so much easier if we had a clothing line instead of putting the clothes out on a rock." _Merle remembered hearing Carol complain the day before while she was doing laundry with Andrea and Amy as he passed a package of string made specifically for clothing line. He frowned as he stopped and stared at the package, the woman's words running through his mind. It wasn't anything important, he was supposed to be looking for tools. Christ, why was he letting the woman affect him like this? Ever since she stitched his shoulder up, he found himself subconsciously looking out for her. It was just little things, hanging around a few feet from her when she at the camp, sticking close to her piece of shit husband, Ed. He found himself watching Ed more than he found himself rifling through his bag of drugs.

"Fuckin' woman." He mumbled to himself and picked up a package of the string and a package of clips, pocketing it in his cargo pants. Merle stomped off towards the tools section, grumbling to himself about the battered woman he couldn't take his mind off of. With each step, the heavy packages in his pants slapped against his leg. She better fucking appreciate this.

* * *

Carol Peletier picked up the basket of clothes that she and Amy had just gotten through washing, making her way to the little rock ledge they had set aside for putting out clothes to dry in the sun. She still believed that this would go a lot better if they had a clothes line to instead of trying to put them out on the rocks but the second she tried to suggest it to Shane, her husband had grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the self proclaimed leader of their group. He told her to mind her own business and just be happy that they were still with the group, considering how _useless _she was. Despite the fact that Ed barely did anything and Carol actually put herself to work; cleaning, cooking, acting as a makeshift medic.

She took a deep breath, adjusted the shirt she was wearing on her arms and leaned down to pick up one of the shirts. It was Merle Dixon's black Metallica t-shirt. A small smile formed on her face as she thought about the rough redneck, shaking her head as she spread it out on the rocks. She used to be absolutely terrified of Merle, and while she wasn't about to cuddle up to him with a mug of hot chocolate, she no longer feared him. Since the day she stitched his shoulder after he got injured in the woods and he revealed that he watched (and liked) _Wizard of Oz _(and told her if her husband put his hands on her again to let him know), she noticed him lingering around her, her daughter or her husband. Carol didn't know why he was doing it, but his presence deterred Ed from tormenting her for a little bit.

Of course, when Merle wasn't around Ed was the same asshole he always was. And he had put his hands on her since that conversation with Merle, but she'd never told him about it. Merle probably didn't even remember that conversation, so she couldn't remember the last time he caused a disturbance by getting high and pissing everyone off. Carol continued to spread the clothes out on the rocks, glancing up to see her husband staring at her with a furious look on his face. He must have seen her holding Merle's shirt and smiling. _Crap. _Carol thought to herself. Ed started to come towards her and Carol started to brace herself for his yelling but nothing ever happened. When she looked up, Ed was staring off behind her, not moving an inch.

Frowning, Carol turned around and was surprised to see Merle Dixon standing a few feet behind her. She swallowed, wanting to run over to Merle and hide behind him, thanking him for just showing up at the right moment, but instead she stayed silent, looking at Merle. She turned back to the clothes after a few moments, spreading another of Merle's shirts out on the rocks. When she looked back up at Ed, he had walked off. She owed Merle for that.

"Got a minute?" Carol heard his voice from behind her. Carol jumped and dropped the shirt she was holding back into the basket, turning around to look at Merle. He had a look of amusement on his face as she jumped and turned back to him. "Scare ya?"

"Just a bit." Carol said softly, holding the shirt in her hand. "Get injured again and need stitches?"

Merle took two large steps over to her so he was standing next to her, leaning against the rocks. He glanced down at the shirts on the rock then turned back to look at her. "You wish. Just wanna get yer hands on Merle again." Carol briefly wondered if he was flirting with her after he winked but quickly shook it off. Men like Merle Dixon didn't flirt with women like her, they flirted with women like Andrea or Amy.

"What do you need then?" Carol asked, squinting up at Merle in the hot Georgia sunlight.

"Got something for ya." Merle said, reaching his hand back and picking up the shirts that had been spread out, tossing them back in the basket. Carol frowned and looked up at him. "Bring those with you, yer gonna need 'em." He said before beginning to walk the same path that he had walked to get to her. Carol watched him for a few minutes as he walked away from her, beginning to walk when Merle turned back to look at her and once again waved for her to come follow him.

Carol picked the basket back up, shot a look back to where her husband once was and began to follow Merle Dixon around the camp. She stopped next to him when he stopped walking and turned to look at him. "What am I looking for?" She asked. Merle nodded towards a white string that went along the length of two trees in a path that was just off from the camp, close enough that it could be seen from the camp. "Is that a clothesline?" She asked, squinting again as she turned to look up at him.

Merle cleared his throat, feeling a bit embarrassed now. This was stupid, but he had come too far to turn back now. "Uh, yea'. Heard ya bit... sayin' 'bout how laundry'd be easier if you ladies had one." When he turned to look down at him, Carol was looking up at him with a look on her face he couldn't quite make out. Was it joy? Happiness? Confusion? Surprise? Merle had no fuckin' clue.

"I didn't think anyone but Amy and Andrea were listening to me when I said that." Carol said shyly, turning her head back to the rope strung between the trees. Merle could see the smile forming on her face and he felt a swell of pride form in his chest. He squared his shoulders and put his hands on his lips, snorting before he nodded.

"I was listening." Carol felt tears brim her eyes, aside from her daughter, no one had ever done anything so thoughtful for her in fifteen years. She turned away from Merle and brushed the tears off her face, hoping he hadn't noticed them. "Somethin' else too." Merle said, reaching down into his cargo pants to pull out a package of pins. "Only ones I could find." He mumbled, reaching a hand back to scratch the back of his shoulder.

"Thank you.. Merle." Carol said softly, glancing up at him.

Merle looked away when he had noticed the tears in her eyes, wondering what he did wrong. He'd done something nice, should he not have done that? Why would she start crying? "Go ahead and try it out, see if it's strong enough." He urged. Carol nodded and moved towards the line, setting the basket down at her feet. She lifted up one of the shirts in the basket, his Metallica shirt again. He watched as Carol stuck it up on the line, frowning as the hem of her shirt rose up and he could see the dark blue bruise on her side. Anger surged through Merle and he looked back to see if Ed was watching them again. He wasn't, so Merle took three large steps over to her as she hung his shirt up. "The fuck did I say about coming to me if he hit you again?" His voice was angrier than he meant it to be and he regretted it as soon as he noticed the fear on her face.

"It's me or my daughter and I'd rather take a hundred beatings before I let him put his hands on her." Carol's answer surprised Merle, his own mother had just let him take all the beatings that his father had dished out. Still, he was furious. "Merle.." Carol said as Merle began to walk off. She prayed and hoped that he didn't go after Ed, letting out a weak sight of relief when Merle stopped next to his brother, grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. He said something to his brother, who promptly picked up his crossbow and followed Merle off into the woods. _Crap. _Carol thought to herself and sighed before she returned to hanging the clothes up.

Ed Peletier _had _been watching Merle and his wife, had watched Merle lead his wife towards the clothesline, watched her smile and laugh as Merle showed her the clothesline. He had thought he had been able to stop her from telling anyone about wanting a clothesline, but she must have found Merle and told him. Dumb fucking cunt. She _would _regret that.

* * *

Carol pulled the clothing items off the line, folding each item as she did. When the items were off the line and folded, she sat on a chair and sorted them out by person. She had come to known whose clothing items were whose, from pants and shirts down to underwear, bras and socks. It was embarrassing at times, but she had become used to it. After sorting each item out, Carol went along the tents and slipped the pile of dry clothes into each tent. Once Carol was finished with the clothes, she returned to her own tent and set the laundry basket down in front of it where it always sat, waiting for people to toss their clothes into it.

She walked back over to the group and sat down next to Amy, crossing her legs. "It was nice of Merle to get us a clothing line. I can't believe he'd be so nice to us." Amy said to her. Carol laghed softly and shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, guess he just didn't want his clothes to smell like rocks anymore." Carol tried to play it off like he didn't do it for her, she didn't know his motives anyway. Maybe it was for her or maybe it wasn't. Amy smiled at Carol softly and glanced over at her sister, giving her the same knowing smile.

"Leave her alone, Amy." Andrea said softly, glancing over at Carol. "Thanks for taking care of it all, Carol. Would have helped you but my ankle hurts like a bitch."

Carol leaned forward to look down at her ankle, she'd had her unfair share of sprained (and the occasional broken one). "It just looks sprained, why haven't you wrapped it?" She asked.

"You were busy, I didn't want to bother you." Andrea shrugged.

"It's an injury, folding clothes can wait for a minute." Carol said before she stood from her spot on a rock, turning around to come face to face with her husband. Carol jumped, she hadn't expected him to be there. "Ed! I didn't see you there."

Ed snarled at his wife. "Yeah, I bet you didn't. Come on, need to talk to you."

Carol swallowed, treading the water with her husband. "Can't it wait? Andrea's ankle needs to be wrapped and I..."

"I'm sure Amy can deal with whatever injury her dumbass sister caused herself, lets go." Ed reached forward and grabbed her forearm where there was a fresh bruise, knowing it would cause Carol the most pain. Carol bit her tongue to prevent from crying out and she glanced around desperately for someone to help her, but no one did. They just pretended not to notice, like everyone always did.

Like an obedient puppy on a leash, Carol followed Ed from the camp and into the woods. She felt her heartbeat start to quicken and Carol just _knew. _She knew, this was the moment she was going to die.

"What are you doing?" Carol asked when she was shoved face first into a tree, her hands held behind her and tied up with something. It felt like rope, but Carol couldn't tell. Ed came up behind her, his breath hot and heavy in her ear. It made Carol feel like she as going to vomit.

The feeling was only made worse when Ed spoke in her ear. "First, I'm gonna fuck ya. Then I'm gonna beat yer fuckin' head in and leave ya here fer dead."

* * *

"The hell got up yer ass?" Daryl asked Merle when they were out deep in the woods. No one else had known about the large Walker pit that he and Merle had dug a month back, it was good use when they had some steam to blow off. Only Merle and Daryl knew about it, only they came out here. They hadn't been coming out there often, so Daryl was surprised when Merle had said he wanted to come out here. It was actually safer than it looked, they'd gone through the trouble of cutting off their hands and removing the teeth; that had taken forever.

Merle climbed out of the pit, the front of his shirt covered in walker blood. Instead of making Carol attempt to clean all of it off, he removed the button down shirt he had been wearing over it and pulled the tank off with one hand, tossing it aside. He put back on his button down shirt and buttoned three of the buttons before leaning down to pick up his pistol off the ground where he left it, slipping it into the front of his cargo pants. "Nothin'." He grunted.

Daryl stared at his brother in complete disbelief that he just shrug it off. He'd noticed the changes in his last remaining family member, how could he not? He noticed that his brother was almost clean, he didn't go for his hard drugs anymore but he still smoked the weed in the bottom of his drug bag – probably just to keep the edge off. Daryl noticed the way his brother lingered around the battered housewife Carol or her daughter or her husband. He noticed how he watched her and he'd watched him put up the clothes line for Carol and the other girls. "Really? How fuckin' stupid do ya think I am?"

Merle glanced at his younger brother and picked up the rifle from the floor. "Pretty fuckin' stupid. 'Specially if you keep fuckin' talkin'." He said, beginning to walk past his brother.

"Is it the housewife again?" Daryl asked. Merle stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at him. "Yeah, Merle, everyfuckingone has noticed yer school girl crush on her. Her piece o' shit husband probably noticed too, way ya always hangin' around her. So is it her that's got yer panties in a fuckin' twist?" Merle barreled over to his brother to tell him to shut the fuck up and mind his own fucking business when they were cut off by a nearby muffled scream. "Fuck was that?" Daryl asked, turning to look at Merle.

"Fuck should I know? I ain't the one that screamed." Merle grunted.

"Should we go check it out?" Daryl asked, their argument forgotten for now. Merle said they might as well check it out and the Dixon brothers took off towards the direction of the scream.

* * *

"Ya think screaming is gonna help ya, bitch? Ain't no one comin' for ya." Ed Peletier snarled as he turned Carol around and slammed her face first into the closest tree. He'd stuffed a dirty rag into her mouth after she'd tried to get away from him after he told her exactly what he was going to do to her. Carol screamed against the rag and began to sob. "Yeah, cry, ya dumb whore. I like it when ya cry." He said as he raked the side of her face along the bark, laughing. He was gonna kill the bitch, might as well have fun with it.

Carol screamed out for help against the rag again, which only made Ed laugh harder. "Ain't no one comin' for ya, Carol."

"_**Hey!" **_A loud, vicious voice from behind them barked. Ed turned around just in time to see Merle and Daryl Dixon coming towards him. He paled as the Dixon brothers came up on him, Daryl's large fist knocking him to the ground. When Ed was on the ground, Daryl pressed his boot against the mans chest to keep him on the floor, his crossbow pointed directly at his head. The youngest Dixon snarled as if he was begging Ed to say something, do something.

Carol let out a relieved sob as she heard Merle's voice say her name repeatedly, pulling the rag out of her mouth after he untied her hands. Merle grabbed her bloody face in his hands, looking down at her. "Are you okay?" He asked, his eyes scanning her face frantically. Carol sobbed heavily, nodding quickly. She didn't think she could talk even if she tried. "Get out of here. Get back to the camp." When Carol didn't move, Merle spoke again. "Now!" He urged. Merle really didn't want Carol to see exactly what he was going to do to her husband.

With a last glance at Merle and Daryl, Carol turned around and took off running back towards the camp.

Merle watched as Carol ran off before he turned back to his little brother. A low growl left his throat, a noise that Daryl had never heard from his older brother. "That motherfucker is mine."

* * *

"Carol!" Andrea Harrison screamed when she saw a bloody faced Carol coming towards her. Those sitting around the camp turned and looked as Andrea and Amy stood to their feet and rushed over to the woman coming towards them. Andrea grabbed Carol as Shane stood to his feet, glancing around to see if Ed was anywhere near by. Shane cursed loudly and looked back into the woods, he knew he should have killed Ed Peletier when he had the chance. When Shane moved to leave them, go into the woods, Carol reached back and grabbed Shane's arm.

"Leave them." She said, her voice coming out low and raspy from her screaming. Shane looked down at her and frowned.

"Them?" He asked, doing another sweep of the camp. Only two other men were missing asides from Ed; the Dixons. "Merle and Daryl out there with him?"

Carol nodded, looking up at Shane. "Leave them." She said again. Shane nodded as Andrea and Amy lead her over to a rock, Lori coming over with towels and a water bottle to clean Carol's face off. "Where's Sophia?"

"Playing with Carl and the other kids. They'll keep her busy." Lori said as she poured some of the water onto the towel and brought it up to Carol's face, wiping the blood off gently. Carol went on to tell Shane, Lori, Andrea and Amy what had happened, without giving so many details. The girls helped clean her up, got her bandaged as much as they could, and stayed with her until Merle and Daryl returned what felt like hours later.

Both Dixon brother's shirts and their arms were covered in blood, presumably all Ed's. Silently, Carol stood to her feet and took the shirts from Daryl and Merle, heading back down to the creek to wash them.

"Dead?" Shane Walsh leaned over to ask Daryl once he'd returned with a new shirt on. Daryl looked up at Shane, giving him a nod.

"Ain't no way in hell he's coming back, less he's a damn chicken and can run around with no head." Daryl said. Shane was slightly startled by Daryl's response to his question and jealous that he didn't get to be there. He _knew _he should have killed Ed the first time he saw him hit Carol. Least he never saw him hit Sophia.

Shane looked around for Merle, but found Merle following Carol down to the creek.

Merle stopped near Carol and leaned down to stick his arms into the creek, scrubbing the drying blood off his arms. She was still silent, just standing there attempting to scrub her husbands blood out of Merle's shirt. He sat on the ground near the creek, waiting for Carol to speak.

Carol finished the shirts as best as she could, setting them down on the rocks. The sun was setting now, it was pointless to try to hang them up until morning. Merle licked his lips as he looked back at Carol. "Ain't all his blood." He said, in some effort to comfort her. Carol stayed quiet, looking up at the sunset. "Are you okay?" He asked. _Just fuckin' say something, Carol. _Merle thought to himself, picking up a rock and tossing it along the water.

"I'm free." When she spoke, her voice was tired and raspy, like she'd lost her voice and was still trying to talk. Her voice cracked as she spoke. "I'm... I'm Great." Merle's top lip twitched in a smile, picking up another rock and tossing it out to the water, watching as it skipped along the water. "He was going to kill me. Rape me, then.. Leave me for the zombies." She said as she sat down next to Merle. He turned to look at her, most of her face obscured by the red bandages on her face. Her arms wrapped around her calves, her eyes focused on the sky. Carol looked at Merle, for the first time noticing that he was shirtless. His back was horribly scarred, scars on his back ranging from small to large, light to dark. There were several dark circles on his back too, Carol recognized those; cigarette burns. No wonder Merle had been so willing to protect her, so angry when she hadn't come to him. By the look on his face, showing her those was not easy.

"Yeah, I figured." He said, his voice had lost its normal gruff and was gentle. Killing Ed Peletier had given Merle a high that no drug could ever give him. Killing an abusive husband, an abusive father, it was like getting the chance he never got to have. Carol looked away from him, looking out at the water. "Couldn't let that happen, who would wash my clothes?" He joked.

Carol smiled for the first time since Merle had shown her the clothesline. "You saved me. Saved my little girl." Carol looked back at him as Merle turned to look at her as well. Testing herself and what Merle would allow her to do, Carol reached between them and grasped one of his hands that was resting on his knee. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, surprised when his hand flipped over and he allowed her to hold his hand. What she said next would make Merle's heart grow three sizes, like the Grinch in _How the Grinch Stole Christmas. _"You're my _hero_."


	19. Five Days (You Found Me Verse)

**Okay, so. Let tell you some things. First, it's for my dear friend Robin, who has been incredibly supportive of all of my Marol fics and has really been just a good friend since we started talking. And while I wrote her a another fic for her birthday (which is Cabraham, if you feel the need to check that out!), she had asked for a Marol fic for a present and well.. I look for any reason to write Marol. **

_**This is part of the You Found Me verse. It follows A Bit.**_

**Happy Birthday Robin! I have a ****_very _****warm regard for you. Like boiling water degree regard.**

* * *

It had been five days since Carol last saw Merle Dixon and she was starting to get worried. After familiar faces, Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon and Glenn Rhee, had left their cabin five days ago, Merle had gone out hunting. She had _wanted _to go with him, but Merle had told her to stay back at the cabin. Whether he said that because he didn't want her to see him struggle with one hand or because he just didn't think she could hunt, Carol had no idea. Right now, she didn't care about why he didn't want her to go with him, she just cared about the fact that he was gone and he hadn't come back.

Carol remembered from being at the prison that game was harder and harder to find and Daryl would have to go further out each time, so after the first day when Merle hadn't returned, she wasn't worried. Even after the second day, she wasn't worried, per se, but she was getting concerned. By the time the third day had ended and Merle still hadn't returned, Carol was terrified. What if Merle had gotten hurt? What if Merle had come across those bandits Daryl had been talking about, the ones that shot Glenn? What if Merle had gotten bit? Carol had already lose so much, she couldn't lose Merle too.

She'd decided that if he wasn't back by the end of the fifth day that he was gone, she was going out to look for him. She couldn't sit around anymore, but she was worried that the second she took off after him Merle would return and find her gone.

As the fifth day without Merle went on, a traumatizing thought ran through her mind. What if Merle had just left her out there? She quickly dismissed the thought the first time it ran through her mind, but as the day dragged on without Merle, she couldn't stop her mind from drifting to the thought. She tried to push it away, after all she and Merle had gone through to get back to each other, there was no way he was just going to leave her. Hell, after all he went through to find this cabin, he wasn't going to give up this cabin. If he wanted to get rid of her, he'd probably just kick her into one of his traps and let the Walkers have her.

To distract herself, Carol cleaned each of the guns they had, she loaded them up with ammo and counted the bullets that they had left. When she finished with that, she sharpened each of the knives they had. Then she rearranged all of the food they had. Once she had done everything that she could do, Carol lied down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Sleeping in their bed without him felt wrong.

* * *

_Carol woke to the noise of someone setting off the traps Merle had set around the cabin and she sat up, grabbing her pistol and her knife that were sitting on the end table and heading for the door. It was pitch black outside, so Carol picked up the lantern that sat on the table by the door, switching it on before she knelt down and put her knife in her boot. She opened the door and picked up the lantern, exiting the cabin._

_Upon hearing a low groan by her side, Carol turned to the left and dropped the lantern to the ground, covering her mouth with the hand that once held her light source. "Merle!?" She cried, praying that she was just seeing things. This couldn't be happening, no. Carol let out a loud, blood curdling scream as Merle came towards her._

_Merle had been bitten._

* * *

Merle Dixon returned home from hunting five days after he had left, stiff and sore, but he'd come back with a deer and a bundle of rabbits. He had to go out even further than normal, a whole days worth of travel until he'd found his first rabbit. It was frustrating, he knew Carol must be going insane with worry. On top of that, Merle had fallen into someone's trap and landed on his back. He should have known better than to think that someone wouldn't have set some kind of trap out there. It had taken him hours to get out of there, which put him hours behind schedule. If that hadn't happened, he would have been home the day before.

He stepped over the traps and walked up to his front door, opening the door and stepping into the cabin. He tried to be as quiet as he could, it was late and he hoped Carol was asleep. After dropping the deer on the table and the rabbits on the counter, Merle walked back to the bedroom to look for Carol. He frowned when she wasn't there, but choose not to panic. Merle walked to the front of the cabin, finding Carol in the living room sleeping on the couch. He thought about waking her up to tell her that he was back but she looked incredibly peaceful that he didn't want to disturb her sleep.

So Merle returned to the kitchen, set up his lantern on his counter and began to clean up the deer and rabbits so they could eat them. He worked with the deer first, it was going to take the longest. It was just a small fawn, but it would get them through a few days. Merle was halfway through preparing the deer when he heard Carol start screaming. Startled, the knife Merle had in his hand slipped and it impaled his prosthetic, but luckily didn't pierce his skin. "Fuck!" Merle snarled, pulling the knife from his prosthetic and tossing it to the side.

He knew he looked like a total mess, he was covered in blood from the deer and he was limping, exhausted and sore. But Carol was screaming and freaking out, that took precedence over his own pain.

Carol was fast asleep still, her eyes shut as she let out another scream. She was clearly having a nightmare, though he couldn't even imagine what she could be dreaming about that would cause her to scream like that. Merle walked over to the couch and he knelt down next to Carol. He reached forward and grasped her shoulders, giving her a quick shake. "Carol? Carol?" Merle shook her awake, startled when she tackled him to the floor.

There had only been a few times when Carol had been more happy to see Merle and this was definitely one of them. The nightmare of Merle having been bitten shook her to her core, so when she was brought out of her nightmare by Merle shaking her and saying her name, she felt a relief that she couldn't explain.

Merle groaned as they landed on the floor, but he couldn't find it in him to complain about the pain in his back as his mouth was quickly covered by Carol's. His arm wrapped around her waist as she pinned him on the floor, eagerly kissing Carol back. It had been almost six days without her touch, he wasn't going to question it, not now.

Carol leaned back and tugged Merle's shirt up over his chest, tossing it away across the cabin. She really didn't care that he was covered in blood, he could get clean later, she _needed _him and she _needed _him right now and right there. Carol leaned down and pressed her lips into his, reaching her hands between them to undo her jeans before she undid his. Merle wrapped an arm around her waist, his hand resting on her ass as he stood to his feet, dropping her on the couch. He tugged her pants off and tossed them to the side before shedding his own jeans.

He sat back on the couch, which felt a hundred times better against his back than the couch did, looking up at her as she straddled his lap. Merle pressed his lips against hers and rest his hands on the small of her back, letting out a groan as her hand wrapped around his cock. "What were you dreamin' about to make you scream like that?" He asked, cupping the side of her face. She looked down at him and shook her head.

"Not important right now." She said, leaning down to press her lips into his. Merle opened his mouth to ask her again, that it was important because she was screaming and was terrified and he didn't like it. When her mouth covered his again, he fell silent and didn't fight her on it this time, hell her hand was stroking his cock again and he probably couldn't have brought up her nightmare again if he even tried. Carol sunk herself down on his cock, her teeth digging into his bottom lip.

Merle let out a moan and leaned his head back as she rode him, his hands resting on her sides. His mouth found her skin, pressing open mouthed kisses on her jawline and down her neck. "Christ, you are so fucking beautiful." Merle mumbled against her chest, sucking her pale flesh into his mouth. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her fingers lacing together. She pressed her forehead against his shoulder, breathing heavily against his skin. His mouth bit and sucked down her chest until he found her breasts and he wrapped his lips around her nipple, tugging the bud between his teeth and pulling on it.

"Oh, fuck, Merle!" She cried out as he played with her tits, his hand on her left breast and his mouth on her right one. His palm brushed over her nipple, pinching it with his fingers. He thrust up into her, not feeling the slow pace that Carol had set by riding him. Merle slouched against the couch and arched his thrusts into him, forcing his eyes to stay open. He needed to watch her, even if he'd had her almost every single day since she found her way back to him. She arched her chest into his mouth, her fingers grasping at his skin. "Harder! Just like that!" Carol panted, pressing her lips against his shoulder and his neck, digging her teeth into his flesh. Merle pulled his hand away from her breast and used his hand to pull each of her arms away from his shoulders, putting them behind her back, holding them in place by wrapping his right arm around her waist and pressing his forearm into her back. He pressed his lips along her skin, returning his mouth to her shoulder. Merle left bruises in his path, sucking and biting from her right shoulder, down her chest and over her breasts, to her left breast and shoulder.

Merle's hand trailed over her stomach and he found her cunt, massaging her clit with two of his fingers. "Ya like the way I'm fuckin' ya, sugar?" He asked, tugging on her nipple as he pulled his mouth away from her tits. Carol nodded quickly and cried out loudly. "Tell me, tell me how much you like having my cock inside you." He growled. Carol licked her lips and swallowed air, her arms struggling against his strong arm pinning her arms against his back. She really wanted to touch him. Merle flexed his arm against hers. When she didn't respond, Merle spoke again. "Ain't ya listenin' Carol?"

Merle gave a quick thrust up into her, his two calloused fingers pinching her clit between his fingers. "Fuck!" She cried out. Carol turned her head and looked down at him. Her eyes were dark with lust as she leaned down to press her lips into his, mumbling against his lips. "I _know _you can _feel _how much I love having your cock inside me." She mumbled. Merle smirked and began to massage her clit under his fingers.

"Ain't nothing that's ever felt better than having ya wrapped around my dick." He said. Carol returned her mouth against Merle's, jerking her hips into his. "Ya gonna come for me, baby?" She moaned against his mouth and nodded, dropping her forehead against his shoulder. "Come loose for me, I wanna feel you come."

Carol came undone, biting down on his shoulder to muffle the desperate scream that left her mouth. Merle growled as she squeezed his cock in a vice grip, thrusting up into her through his own orgasm.

Merle slumped back into the couch and let out a groan, his back still hurt like crazy and having sex probably wasn't going to help matters. He released her arms, wrapping his good arm around her waist. He pressed kisses along her shoulder, holding her as she came down from her orgasm and caught her breath. "What took you so long?" Carol mumbled against his shoulder, kissing his shoulder gently.

"Had to go out a whole days worth further. Got us some good meat though, small fawn and some rabbits." Merle said, leaning against the couch. "Then I fell in a goddamn trap, took me hours to get out of there. Fucked up my back, makes huntin' fucking great." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

Carol frowned when he said that he had fallen in a trap and messed his back up. "And you didn't say anything as I tackled you to the floor?"

Merle let out a laugh at her concern. "Had worse." He said and patted the small of her own back. "Now ya gonna tell me what had ya screaming?"

"Nightmare."

"Yeah, put that together while you were screamin' so loud to attract the dead." He retorted. "What about?"

Carol took a deep breath and sighed, lifting her head up and looking down at Merle. "You... Got bit." He frowned and looked up at her, leaning up to press his lips into hers. "You were gone for five days, every terrible thought I could have, I did have. From you dying to just leaving me here."

He could have laughed at the idea of just leaving Carol. After all they'd gone through to get back to each other? "Shh, I ain't goin' anywhere, a'right?" He said. Carol nodded and she pressed her lips into his before climbing off of his lap. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up to his feet.

"Come on." She said and lead him back to the bedroom. Merle frowned, shutting his eyes as they walked back to the bedroom. He really _really _missed drugs right now, they could easily make him forget the pain he was in right now. "Lie on the bed, on your stomach." Merle complied with Carol, letting out a soft groan as he collided with his soft bed. Carol crawled on the bed and straddled his waist, bringing her hands up to his back. She began to kneed his flesh under her hands, smiling as Merle left out a soft groan. "Would probably feel better if we had lotion... Edible lotion." She joked.

Merle turned his head to look back at her. "Didn't we just have sex?" He asked. Carol giggled softly and leaned down to press her lips against his forehead.

"Are you complaining?"

Merle pursed his lips. "Nah." He said, relaxing in the bed and allowing Carol to rub his back until he fell asleep.

When Carol realized Merle was asleep, she smiled and climbed off of his lap, dressing and walking back to the kitchen. She finished cleaning the deer up that Merle had brought home, storing it as best as they could. What she wouldn't give for a fridge. She couldn't help but wonder if the world would ever put itself back together, if things like electricity would ever exist again. Probably not in the next ten years, probably not while she's still alive. But she couldn't hope that someday, someday the world could fix itself. Carol sighed and moved onto the rabbits, skinning and gutting the creatures. Carol fixed up some of the rabbit meat along with some rice and potatoes, returning to the bedroom where Merle was still fast asleep, though he had rolled over onto his back now.

Carol climbed into the bed with Merle and slipped her legs under the blanket, leaning against the headboard. She watched him sleep as she ate like if she didn't watch him, he was going to disappear and he wasn't going to be there again. She finished her meal and set it aside on the table, scooting down in the bed. She wrapped her arms around his waist, shutting her eyes and curling up at his side as she fell asleep.

* * *

When Merle opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was Carol wrapped around him, her arms around his waist and her legs draped over his. He smiled, looking down at her. He never knew what it was about Carol that made him feel like a bumbling teenager but it was what she did. He didn't think he'd ever be used to the way that Carol loved him, he had decided back at the prison that she must be insane if she could love the Dixons as fiercely as she did. He and Carol lied there together for a while until Merle untangled himself from her grip and climbed out of the bed, he really needed to take a piss and get something to eat. Getting dressed could wait until later, he really didn't feel like being over to get his pants off the floor in the living room.

After relieving himself, he went into the kitchen and found that Carol had finished what he'd started with the deer and the rabbits. He knew his brother had taught her that, taught her a lot of things to help her survive. Merle didn't like to think about the relationship that Carol and Daryl could have had if it hadn't been for him. Course, he knew that Daryl would have never had the guts to make a move on a woman like Carol, but she could have made a move on him. Whenever he thought about it, Merle would find himself doubting his whole relationship with Carol. Rare insecurity would creep in; what if he still wasn't her first choice?

Merle grumbled to himself and fixed a plate of meat and rice, knowing he and Carol would need to make a supply run. With his back as sore as it still was, there was no way he'd be able to do it on his own. Merle returned to the bedroom with the cooked meal, finding Carol sitting up in bed now. "Mornin'." Merle mumbled as he crawled back into the bed with his bowl.

"Pretty sure it's well past noon." She said, squinting as sunlight came through the window. Merle glanced at the window as he dug into his food, squinting.

"Probably."

"Your back feel better?" Carol asked as she crawled over to Merle, sitting behind him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Merle dropped his fork and reached up to grab her hand briefly, pressing a kiss against her hand before returning to his food.

He rolled his back slightly, groaning when his back cracked loudly. "Better. Be better if I was still on drugs." Carol frowned and pressed her lips against his shoulder. "You did real good on the rabbit."

"I had some good teachers." Carol smiled. Merle chuckled and returned to his meal as Carol's hands started to work over his back again. He hung his head low as she massaged his back, craning his head to look back at her. Their eyes connected and Merle felt like a jackass for doubting their relationship earlier. He set his plate aside and turned to face Carol, reaching forward to press his lips into hers.

Carol wrapped her hands around the back of his neck and leaned back against the bed, bringing Merle down with her. He grinned and pinned his hand above her shoulder, pulling away enough to look down at her. Fuck, she was beautiful. He didn't think he'd ever be used to someone this beautiful and genuinely good loving him. No, he'd never get used to that.

He pressed his lips against hers again, pinning his stump above her shoulder so his hand could explore under her shirt. His hand cupped her breast in his hand, stroking her nipple his thumb. The bud hardened in his finger and he twisted it in his hand. Carol let out a moan against his mouth, arching her chest into his hand. Merle pulled away from her enough to pull her shirt over her head, tossing it away from him. His mouth reconnected with hers, his hand returning to her breast.

Merle's mouth covered her other breast and he tugged the nipple into his mouth, sucking it into his mouth. He wished he had a right hand right now so he could have his hand inside her underwear. Fuckin' Rick Grimes. She reached between them and slipped her hand into her underwear, dragging the tip of her finger over her clit. Shit, Carol was going to be the death of him, he swore. Merle focused on the nipple in his hand and the breast in his hand, listening to the breathy moans escaping from Carol's mouth. Nothing ever sounded better.

Carol reached between the two of them with her other hand, wrapping her hand around the head of his cock, stroking from the head down to the base. Merle growled against her breast as he felt her stroke his length while she had her hand buried between her legs. He released her hand and tried to remember how many pairs of underwear she had and how much in trouble he would get if he tore the underwear off of her. He wanted to see her hand between her legs. Merle removed his hand from her breast and with one hand, pulled her underwear down inch by inch until her underwear hit her knees. Stilling both of her hands, Carol shimmied out of her underwear, kicking the underwear off of the bed.

"Don't you fucking stop." Merle growled, leaning down and capturing her mouth against his. She smirked against his lips and returned both her hands to their actions, trying to keep a decent pace with each hand. He pulled his mouth from hers and returned to her breasts. "No bitch ever stroked my dick like you."

Carol giggled at the compliment, her fingers reaching down and brushing over his balls. "You have such a way with words." She teased. Merle smirked against her breasts and he buried his head between both of them, his hand still massaging it in his hand. He listened to her moan, looking up at her and watching the way her neck arched into the air, the way her teeth dug into her bottom lip. He made a mental note that he wanted to watch her get herself off one day, but as she started to beg him to get her off, he needed to bury himself inside her.

Merle slapped her hand away from his cock and away from her cunt, adjusting over her and burying himself inside of her. He dropped his head between her breasts, dragging his tongue over his bottom lip. Nothing felt better than being buried inside Carol – and he'd not only been buried deep inside other women, but he'd been a drug addict for half of his life. Merle knew all about feeling good, but _nothing _made Merle feel better than being inside of Carol. He stayed buried inside of her, completely still as he enjoyed how she felt wrapped around him. Merle reached down and grasped the hand she had between her legs, bringing her fingers to her mouth and taking her fingers into his mouth, sucking on her fingers.

He stayed completely still until Carol began to squirm underneath him, rolling her hips into his. He lifted his head up from her breasts, let her fingers fall out of his mouth and looked down at her as he thrusted in her, watching the way she reacted to him. A soft moan would escape from her mouth when he would push into her and a whimper would leave her mouth when he would pull out of her. Her hands ran over his chest, bringing her mouth up to his chest and biting down on his skin. There were already several fading bruises scattered along his chest and his shoulders, which Carol only added to every time they had sex. Merle didn't mind, he liked looking at them and knowing they were there. Merle felt her nails dig into his side, her leg wrapping around his waist and digging her heel into his back.

His mouth found her ears, mumbling into her ear about how he _loved _to be inside her, how he wished he could stay buried inside of her forever, how he had felt incredibly lost when he didn't have her and how he wished he could have had her before the world went to shit, how much of a better man she made him.

Tears sprung to her eyes as she heard him tell her that he wished he would have found his way to her before all of this and she turned her head to look at him, pressing her lips into his. They came together after telling each other they loved each other, falling back into the bed as tangled and sweaty limbs. He played with the short strands of her hair, holding her body against his firmly.

Carol thought about what he had said, that he wished that he could have found her before the world went to shit and she thought about the things that she knew about Merle before the apocalypse. She lifted her head up and looked up at Merle, who was staring down at her with hooded eyes.

"Merle?"

"Hmm?"

Carol leaned up and pressed her lips against his softly. Whatever she was going to ask him had escaped her mind, it must not have been important. "Nothing." She said, lying her head back on his chest. Merle rest his chin on top of her head, sighing contently.

Merle raised his eyebrow, but he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. Despite that he'd only been up for a few hours, he was still exhausted. If he remembered after he woke up, he'd ask her what she had wanted to ask him.


	20. Father's Day

**I love adorable little cliches. Major cheese here. Happy Fathers Day to any fathers who might be reading or to any single moms reading who have to be Mom and Dad.**

* * *

"Can we wake up Daddy yet?!" Six year old twins Ella and Hannah Dixon bounced by their mother, Carol as she was setting the table for Father's Day breakfast. They'd been up for a while helping her make breakfast for their father, after wrapping their presents for him. They'd both made homemade mugs for their father, Carol had found kits for them at the store the week before. Shopping for Merle was never easy, Merle always said he didn't want anything. Of course, that didn't stop Carol from buying something for her husband for holidays.

Carol finished setting the table and looked down at her daughters, sighing softly. "Go wake him up, tell him breakfast is almost done." She had barely finished her sentence before her twin girls took off down the hallway and up the stairs. "No running!" She called after them, though she knew her daughters couldn't hear her at all. She rolled her eyes and and let out a slight laugh before returning to the table.

Ella and Hannah skidded to a stop in front of their parents room, fighting over who got to open the door. "I'm older!" Ella exclaimed, pushing her sister away from the doorknob.

"By three minutes!" Hannah argued. "Ella, stop, just let me open the door! You opened it last year!"

"No, you did!" Ella whined, losing the fight to Hannah when her sister got the door open. Ella whined but pushed by her sister to get into the room first, crawling onto the bed.

Merle Dixon was pretending to still be asleep in bed, having heard his daughters fight outside the door like they did every single year when they came to wake him up. As his twins climbed onto his bed and began to jump on the bed while saying "Wake up, Daddy!", Merle let out a fake groan and rolled over onto his back, looking up at his children.

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up." Merle said, starting to sit up. He pulled Hannah and Ella onto his lap, wrapping each of his arms around their shoulders. They wrapped their arms around their father, knocking him to the bed. Merle let out a laugh and kissed each of their foreheads. "Mama up?"

"With bacon!" Ella grinned.

"Bacon, huh?" He asked, running his fingers through Ella's brown curls. "Bacon sounds real good, don't it?" When his girls nodded, Merle started to sit up, picking up both of his daughters on his side. He'd been up for a while, the sounds of his girls in the kitchen woke him up around an hour ago. He'd just been relaxing, waiting for them to come wake him up.

Merle entered the dining room, seeing his wife put the plate of pancakes in the middle of the table. There were two bags sitting on the table, both decorated by his daughters. Of course they got him presents, he wondered if Carol would ever take him seriously when he said he didn't want anything. Carol turned to look at him as he came into the dining room, setting both girls on their feet so they could take their seats at the table. "Morning, Daddy." Carol teased, leaning up to press her lips to her husbands.

"Ew!" Chorused Ella and Hannah from the table as their parents kissed. Carol pulled away from Merle and rolled her eyes.

"Happy Fathers Day." Carol said as she moved to sit down at the table. Merle sat down next to her and picked up the waiting cup of coffee, bringing it up to his lips and taking a drink.

"Those for me?" He asked, nodding to the bags. Ella and Hannah nodded their heads quickly and Merle let out another fake groan. "Alright, hand 'em over." Merle opened his presents as Carol prepared plates for their daughters, holding each of the homemade mugs in his hands. They were clear plastic mugs with decorated pieces of paper inside of them. Merle probably wouldn't use them, they'd sit on his desk at the auto shop he owned and store pencils. They were perfect.

* * *

"There is one more present I didn't give you in front of the girls." Carol said after breakfast while Merle stood at the deck door, watching the girls run through the sprinklers. He'd come inside for a moment to get them something to drink, they needed to stay hydrated. Merle turned to look at her as she handed him a small square package.

"What's this?" He asked as he took it from her.

"Open it." Carol said, leaning against the door frame. Merle opened the package up and pulled out a black picture frame, an ultrasound picture in the frame. He frowned, why was she handing him a framed picture of their twins ultrasound? Merle scanned the photo until he realized that this wasn't an ultrasound of their twins. It was of an entirely different child. The date was from a week ago and there was only one child in the image.

Merle looked down at his wife. "Is this yer way of telling me yer pregnant again?" He asked before returning his gaze back to the picture in his hands.

Carol nodded and leaned up to kiss his cheek. She'd known about her second pregnancy for the past two weeks, but she'd wanted to wait to tell him for the perfect moment. Fathers Day was. She was eighteen weeks pregnant, surprised that Merle hadn't been able to tell that she was pregnant. There was a small swell to her stomach, visible on her slim body. "Say hello to your son."

He looked from the picture to his wife, a grin forming on his face. He'd wanted a son, couldn't help but have been slightly disappointed when Carol's first pregnancy had given him two girls. "It is only one kid this time, right?"

Carol let out a laugh. "Yes, only one." She took one of Merle's hands and brought it over to her stomach, resting his hand on top of her stomach. Merle ran his thumb over her stomach and glanced at her. "Happy Fathers Day." She said, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

"Best fuckin' Fathers Day."


	21. Don't Speak

**I had this idea while listening to "Don't Speak" by No Doubt. Shorter than a lot of stuff I've written and posted lately.**

* * *

Carol walked through the mechanics shop up to the front desk, slapping her finger over the bell. Her fiancee, Shane, had taken his car up to the local mechanics shop the week before and she'd gotten a call from the shop this morning while he was at work. She had some time to kill during her lunch break, so she thought she'd come pick it up for him. She only worked down the street at a friends restaurant, it wouldn't take her long. Even if it did, Michonne would understand.

"Help you?" The man, Edwin as his name tag said, asked as he came up. Carol flashed a smile and nodded.

"Yeah, my fiancee's car is done, I got the call this morning? Shane Walsh?" She asked.

The Edwin turned and typed on a computer for a moment before he turned back to Carol. "Yeah, it's done." He said before walking back into the back office to fetch the keys. He returned and handed them to her, though Carol couldn't understand why he hadn't done it with his clean hand. She took the keys from him and reached into her bag to find a tissue and wipe it off. "Cars out back, come with me."

Carol followed Edwin out back to Shane's car. "What did Shane even had done to it?" She asked.

"Ain't sure. You'd have to ask the mechanic who worked on it. Want me to get him?"

"No, that's alright.." Carol said. Shane had already paid for the work that was being done on his car, so Edwin left Carol to deal with the car on her own. She sighed and unlocked the car door, climbing into it and leaning back against the drivers seat. She sat in the car for a few moments before she caught glimpse of another mechanic walking towards one of the cars. She could have sworn she recognized him, but she hadn't seen him in almost ten years.

Carol climbed out of the car and locked it, walking towards the mechanic. He was now bent over one of the cars, head buried in the engine. She could hear him muttering to himself and she knew right away that it was him. It was her ex boyfriend, the last time she saw him it was the day before he had to go to jail for eight years for armed robbery. He'd broken up with her that day, told her he didn't want her to sit around and wait for him. While he was in jail for the first few years, Carol had tried to stay in touch with him, tried to call, write and even tried to visit him. She was always turned away.

It had taken two years for her to actually start dating again, that was when she met Shane. She loved Shane, but nothing ever compared to your first love.

Carol had thought about turning around and walking away from the man, getting in her car and going back to work, forgetting about ever seeing him. But she couldn't just walk away from him. "Merle?" She asked.

Merle jumped as he heard the voice next to him, dropping the tool he was using. "Godfuckingdammit, what?" Merle snapped, turning to look at whoever the hell was bothering him. When he saw it was Carol standing ten feet away from him, his face softened and fell as his eyes fell on his ex girlfriend. "Carol?" He asked, staring at her. He had really hoped that she would have left town, moved on. But here she was, staring at him.

"Hi.." Carol said in disbelief that he was standing there just a few feet away. Her first instinct was to run into his arms and kiss him, but the engagement ring that suddenly felt really heavy reminded her that she couldn't do that. When she looked up again, Merle had come closer to her. "I didn't know you'd gotten out of jail."

"Made it that way." Merle said honestly. Carol looked up at him, really wishing she could have had a better poker face, but she knew that she didn't. "You're better off without me." His eyes fell down to the hand that was clutching her purse, the diamond ring on her fingers almost blinding him. He'd heard from his brother about her engagement to one of the sheriff's deputies, Shane Walsh, but he had hoped it wasn't true. Hoped she hadn't gone off and shacked up with a fucking _cop. _As if he needed another reason to hate cops.

Carol knew he'd seen her ring, but her bottom lip trembled. "That wasn't your call to make." Carol said, crossing her arms and blocking his view of her ring.

He laughed. "Yer getting married, Carol. Moved on from ol' Merle."

"You told me to. You never answered my calls or my letters, never let me visit you." Furious tears came to Carol's eyes and she brought her hand up and she pressed her finger into his chest. "I loved you. And I would have waited for you. I would have stood by your side because you fucked up but you were still _my _Merle. I hated you for so long, hated you for leaving me, hated you for pushing me away." Merle let Carol yell at him, let her push on his chest. He even stumbled back so she'd feel better about it. He didn't even say anything about it when her hand came up and she slapped him. "I wish you'd never gotten out of jail."

Both Merle and Carol were surprised at her words and she turned around on her heel, covering her face with her hand as she walked back to her car. Merle followed the path and stopped, watching as she climbed into Shane's car and his stomach churned as he watched her break down and cry.


	22. Second Thoughts (Walker Bait Verse)

_**This is related to Walker Bait and serves as a prequel. **_

**Was previously needysaurusrex, just went through a name change. Still the same writer, still have the same stories. Just changed my and my twitter to match my tumblr.**

* * *

"_Where is he? Where's Merle?" _

"_He left." _

Rick's words echoed through Carol's mind as she walked back through the prison, understanding the situtation. Merle was gone, he had left. He'd left with Daryl, who wasn't welcome at the prison. She understood why, Daryl had beaten Glenn half to death, had put a gun up to Maggie's head and had threatened to pull the trigger. Daryl Dixon wasn't welcomed at the prison. But Merle was.

But Daryl was Merle's blood, was the last member of the Dixon family. Merle had been looking for his brother ever since the quarry. He looked for Daryl in every sea of walkers, in every dead body he saw. He looked for him in every building, every section of woods. Carol wasn't fool enough to think that if Merle had a chance to be with his brother that he wouldn't take it without a second thought. She knew that he would, no matter what they had together.

Carol felt tears brim her eyes, but she couldn't cry. Not now. She could let herself break down later, in the safety of the night. She needed to keep herself busy now, needed to make herself useful. She walked to her cell and found her first aid kit and went down to where Maggie and Glenn's cell was, leaning against the wall for a second. Glenn looked like hell, like Daryl had put him through hell.

"Ready to get that cleaned up?" Carol asked. Glenn turned his attention to Carol and looked up at her, shrugging his shoulders. She walked over to him and sat down on the bed next to him, opening the first aid kit. Carol began to clean the wound on Glenn's eye silently, picking up the needle when she was done. They didn't have surgical thread for stitches, so they made due with what they had. "You did what you had to do, whatever you did." Carol said as she began to give him stitches.

Glenn glanced at Carol briefly. "I wouldn't give up the prison. That's what Daryl wanted." She looked up at Glenn and pursed her lips, cupping the side of his face and turning his head towards her so she could see what she was doing. Glenn was having trouble not getting up and screaming in anger over everything that happened; especially what happened to Maggie. The sight of her with her shirt off standing there terrified as that man _The Governor _kissed her forehead was burned into his memory, he saw it every time he shut his eyes. "You don't seem too torn up over Merle leaving."

Carol looked at Glenn sadly and tied off the string, snipping it as close as she could. "I've broken down several times in my mind." She admitted. "But I always knew there was a chance I'd lose him to Daryl. Daryl's blood." She collected the items in the first aid kit, looking up at Glenn. "You and Maggie held out as long as you could, no one is angry with you for giving the prison up." She stood to her feet and gave him a weak smile before leaving the cell and returning to the kitchen.

"Sorry about Merle." She heard from behind her as she cleaned up in the kitchen. It didn't need to be cleaned, but Carol just needed to keep her mind off of it. Beth had already put Judith down for her nap, dinner wasn't for hours, kids didn't have class today. There was nothing else she could do to keep her mind off of everything. She craned her head back to see Axel behind her, leaning against one of the tables. She gave the man a smile, turning back to the counter.

"Me too." She said, scrubbing the counter intently. Carol couldn't believe she was thinking this, but she was actually really thankful for Axel, for his distraction with his desperation to keep her attention. Any other time she would have been annoyed with it, but she found herself enjoying his conversation. At least she wasn't dwelling on Merle.

* * *

"_What do you want us to tell Carol? She'll be devestated." _

"_She'll understand." _

Rick's question weighed on Merle as he walked through the woods with his brother, thinking about what exactly Rick would tell Carol. How was Rick going to tell his woman that he left without a goodbye? Of course, he knew that Carol would understand. This was Daryl, his little brother. His last family member alive. His place was here with him, not back at the prison. Even if that was where he wanted to be.

"So uh.. What did Rick mean back there?" Daryl asked Merle while they hiked through the woods. Merle looked back at his brother, he hadn't realized that Daryl had actually been listening to him and Rick talk. "And who thefuck _is _Carol?" Merle looked forward again.

"None of yer fuckin' business. Ain't like it matters now." Merle said. Who Carol was to him wasn't important, not anymore. He couldn't go back to the prison, not after choosing Daryl over the prison. Some of the people there would understand, of course, but not all of them would. Glenn, being one of them, but Merle didn't blame him at all. Hell, if someone had done the things he heard that Daryl and the Governor did to him and Maggie to him and Carol, well, both Daryl and the Governor would be dead.

Daryl frowned, resting his hand on his hip. It clicked as he saw the pained look on his brothers face as he looked forward, big brother had himself a little girlfriend. Now which one was Carol again? Knew it wasn't the blonde bitch, Andrea, she was back in Woodbury still. Wasn't her sister either. Wasn't that the one with the abusive husband and the kid? "Ain't Carol the mouse with the kid and the jackass husband?" He asked.

Christ, shut up, Daryl. "Was." Should have known Daryl wasn't going to let it up now. Daryl was like a cat after a mouse when it came to this shit. "Like I said, it don't matter now."

Daryl didn't let up, not for a second. "Must be a real good fuck to get yer panties in a twist this fuckin' much."

Rage burned in Merle Dixon's core and he turned on his brother, briefly considering pulling his gun on him. He clenched his fists tried to control the rage he felt inside at hearing his brother call Carol 'a real good fuck'. She was so much more than that. "Watch yer fuckin' mouth." Daryl was smirking, why was he fucking smirking? "Wipe that fuckin' look off yer face."

"Ya wanna go back to the prison, brother? Go back to ya little girlfriend and yer friends that sooner see my head on a fuckin' platter like my hand?" Daryl held up his stump, waving the knife close to Merle's face. Merle smacked the knife from his face.

"You lost yer hand because ya tried to kill a person, ya fuckhead." Merle snapped. "And fuck, I would _love _to go back to the prison, it's better than being out here. We're gonna die out here, get it? You only got one fuckin' hand, I ain't got a lot of bullets. We're gonna die out here because yer a fucking asshole."

Daryl seemed unphased by his brothers outburst. If Merle hadn't known better, he'd think that Daryl was drunk. "We all gonna die anyway. Make sure I'll die first so you can go off and be with yer fuckin' girlfriend."

Merle felt like he wanted to scream, his brother wasn't going to fucking get it. "This ain't about her. Those people at the prison? Good people." Daryl scoffed, good people didn't leave others on top of a fuckin' roof top to cut their own hand off. "Out here? We'll be dead 'fore the week ends. Do you get that? Only fuckin' chance either of us got is at the prison." Pushing past his brother, Merle walked past him and walked along the path they'd been walking.

The younger Dixon turned around and watched his brother walk away from him. He cursed when he realized that Merle was backtracking, he was going to go back to the prison. For some pussy? For some assholes that wouldn't let his own blood come back with him? "You know they ain't gonna let me back there? Held a gun to the farm princess; damn near killed the Chinese kid."

Merle craned his head back to his brother. Maybe he could convince them to let Daryl stay. He wasn't a complete asshole, not all the time. Daryl could play nice if he had to. "Glenn's Korean."

"All the fuckin' same." Daryl snapped. "They ain't gonna let me back there."

"Maybe if you try not being a fuckin' asshat, man up and fuckin' apologize." Right now, Merle didn't give a shit what his brother did. He had a family to get back to.

* * *

Carol had let herself break down when she was in the safety of her cell, dropping her back against the cold concrete. She'd tried to not break down, tried not to cry, but when she entered the cell to take a moments rest and noticed Merle's crumpled up clothing in the corner of the room, everything came crashing down on her. Merle was gone, she'd probably never see him again. Even though Carol understood to her core _why _he had done it, her heart was broken.

She wanted to scream, wanted to find Rick and smack him for not forcing Merle to come back with him. For not trying harder to convince him to stay. Rick had told her that he asked Merle what they wanted him to tell Carol and he'd just said that she'd understand. And she did. She understood, god she understood. Didn't make it hurt any less. But what was she going to do now? She felt incredibly lost without Merle there, felt lost without her best friend, her soulmate. She took a deep breath and wiped her face off, she needed to compose herself.

With or without Merle, she'd do exactly what he'd taught her how to do; survive and carry on.

"Carol?" Carol jumped when she heard Beth Greene's voice come from outside the cell and she wiped her eyes off, composing herself before she left the cell and looked at the young blonde with Judith Grimes cradled in her arms.

"Yes?" She asked. Beth looked up at Carol before she held out her arms. She needed a break from carrying Judith around, her arms were getting tired. Carol smiled and reached forward to take the child from her, cradling Judith in her arms.

Beth leaned against the wall and looked at Carol. "Did Merle really leave?"

"Yeah, he did. Blood comes first."

"What are we going to do without Merle? Who's going to hunt?" Beth asked. Carol reached forward with her free hand and touched the girls arm to calm her. She didn't think that Merle knew how much the group really did depend on him.

"We are going to do exactly would he would want; survive and carry on. Okay?" Beth nodded and looked up at the older woman, wondering how in the world she could be so composed. Everyone knew what Carol had gone through; her husband's abuse, his death, her daughter going missing and finding her daughter as a walker. Adding on top of that; getting to fall in love again only to have that ripped from you. Carol Peletier should be breaking down and screaming, but she wasn't. Hell, she was comforting someone who had only spoken to Merle a few times.

"I'm mad at him." Beth admitted, looking down at her feet.

"Don't be. There should be more men like Merle out there, men with honor and men with a code." Carol sniffed and looked down at Judith, both Beth and Carol pulling faces.

"How can something so small make something so smell?" Beth asked as she reached forward and took Judith from her.

Carol laughed. "It only gets worse." She said as Beth retreated. Briefly, Carol shut her eyes and took a deep breath before she left the cell block and went outside. She needed air.

"Merle was a good man." Carol heard a voice say next to her. She turned her head and looked up at Oscar, one of the prison inmates who was there when they first found the prison.

Carol smiled slightly. "Talking about him like he's dead." She said.

"Forgive me for saying... But he doesn't have a lot of ammo left. Maybe a few clips on him. His brother only has one hand... They'll be dead within the week." He said bluntly. Carol looked up at him and opened her mouth to retort, to tell him he was wrong. To tell him that if anyone could survive out there it was Merle Dixon.

As soon as Carol opened her mouth to speak, a gunshot rang off and Oscar fell to the ground. Carol looked up and reached back for her pistol, only to rememer that it was back in the prison. "CAROL GET DOWN!" Maggie screamed from the watch tower before bringing her rifle up to her face to look through the scope.

Without a second thought, Carol dropped to the ground and grabbed Oscar's body, turning his body to the side and using his dead body as a human shield. "Forgive me, Oscar." She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut and waiting for the bullets to stop.

* * *

The attack was over, Merle and Daryl had shown up just at the end of it. He didn't need to guess who had attacked; he knew exactly who it was; The Governor. He looked back at his brother who was standing behind Rick Grimes, glancing at his friend.

"Don't think I've ever been happier to see you." Rick said, reaching his hand out to shake Merle's hand. He glanced at the one handed man behind him, knowing Daryl had also had a part in saving his life. Daryl wiped his knife off on his pants and Rick looked back to Merle. "He causes problems, it's on you."

Merle gave a nod as he watched Carl open the gate up for the men, stepping through.

"We lose anyone?" Rick asked, looking down at his son.

"Oscar. He was up near the watch tower talking to Carol. I don't know if she's..." Carl said, warily looking at Daryl then glancing back at Merle. He opened his mouth to tell Merle he was glad he came back, but Merle took off running past him. Carl, Daryl, and Rick watched as Merle took off running without a second thought.

Merle came crashing into Glenn's body as he tried to make his way towards the watch tower that Carl had said Carol had been up at. "Merle! Did you seriously bring Daryl back here?"

He tried to walk past the younger man, but Glenn stepped in front of him. "I'm sorry, alright? He's sorry, I'm sorry, now get the _fuck _out of my way." Merle snapped, pushing past him and exiting the prison again, looking along the prison coutyard, trying to find Oscar's dead body. Where the _fuck _was she? Was she dead too? He'd bash in the Governor's head with his bare hands himself if Carol was harmed. Merle looked up at the watch tower where Maggie was still standing, her arm extended out. It took Merle a moment to realize that she was _pointing. _She was leading him towards Carol.

His eyes followed the path her arm was pointing to, seeing the prison blue jumpsuit covered in blood. She'd used him as a shield. _That's my girl. _Merle prayed that his body was enough to protect her from the bullets. Merle took off in a sprint towards the body, his stomach churning when there wasn't any movement at all from behind it.

Merle skidded to a stop in front of Oscar, reaching down and grabbing the mans arm. "Sorry, brother." He said before tugging his body over and kneeling down. Carol was completely still, her eyes squeezed shut. She had blood covering her front, but he couldn't tell if it was hers. "Carol!?" He dropped to his knees completely, hands coming up and grasping her shoulders.

Carol thought she had to be dreaming now, Merle had left the prison. But when she opened her eyes, Merle was there, he was on his knees in front of her, his hands on her shoulders. "Merle?" Carol spoke. A look of relief spread over Merle's handsome face and Carol sat up, throwing her arms around his shoulders. She could be angry that Merle had left her later, _he had come back. _

Merle's arms came around Carol and he still might feel that he might throw up. She was alive, but was she okay? He pulled away from her and looked down at her front, his hand coming down to her chest and stomach, trying to feel for a bullet wound. Carol said his name repeatedly before grabbing his face and making him look at her. "I'm fine." She said, leaning forward to press her lips against his before she threw her arms around his shoulders again. He stood to his feet, her arms still wrapped around him. He turned her again, looking down at her in the sunlight. She said she was fine, but was she really? She repeated that she was fine again before his arms finally came around her again.

He looked down at the prison yard where he had left Rick with his brother, where his brother was looking directly up at the watch tower, at his and Carol's embrace.

* * *

Carol returned to their cell, where Merle was sitting on the bed with his pistol in his hands as he reassembled it. He must have been cleaning it while she was getting clean from Oscar's blood. They hadn't spoken, hadn't said a word to each other since they stood in the courtyard hugging. She waited and watched for a few minutes, just thankful to see him again. She'd thought she'd never see him again, hell three hours ago she thought she was going to die. Carol entered the cell and pulled the blanket over the bars, now the only light being from the lantern on the bed.

Merle looked up in surprise as Carol entered the cell and he lifted his pistol up, setting it on the table near the cot. He watched as Carol brought her hands up and removed her clean shirt before she walked over to him. He stared up at her as she stood between his legs before she leaned down and pressed her lips against his. His arms came around her and he returned her kiss, his hands resting on the small of her back. He leaned back into the bed, Carol straddling his lap. He leaned up and pressed his lips into hers, her hands running down his chest and tugging his t-shirt out of his jeans and up over his head, tossing it behind her. Her hands returned to his waist and she unbuckled his belt, undoing his pants quickly.

"Kind of figured you'd want to yell at me." Merle mumbled against her lips as his hand came up to undo her bra unhanded. The straps fell forward and she pulled away enough to let the bra drop to his stomach, Merle tossing the fabric away from him.

"I will later." She promised, standing to her feet to take her pants off, discarding them on the floor. Carol came towards him again and returned to her spot on his lap, her arm wrapping around the back of his neck as she claimed his mouth. Merle wrapped his arm around Carol as he raised his hips up and shoved his pants down to his knees. Carol reached down between them and wrapped her hand around his cock, biting down on his bottom lip as he hardened in her hand. "Don't leave me again." She pleaded against his lips.

Merle found it hard to focus between her hand on his cock and her mouth on his. "I won't." He mumbled.

Carol pulled her mouth away from his and looked down at him. "Promise me."

It was then that Merle realized just how much leaving with Daryl had devestated her. He stared up at her and he nodded, leaning up to press his lips into Carol's. "I promise. I ain't going anywhere." Merle promised, burying his head in her shoulder as she sunk down onto his cock. He tugged her closer to his body using the arm around her waist, pressing his mouth against hers in every hope to silence, if not muffle, the noises coming from her mouth as she rode him. He let her stay in control, the hand on her waist gripping her soft flesh tightly.

* * *

"Thank you." Carol said when they were lying together on the cot in a post-coitus haze. Merle lifted his head from the thin pillow and looked down at her head on his chest.

"Fer what?" He asked. Carol looked up at him and licked her lips.

Her fingers drew lazy circles on his broad shoulder, squinting as she looked up at him. The lantern on the table was fading, she'd have to go down to the stash of batteries and get another set. "For having second thoughts about leaving... For coming back." He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.

"Daryl ain't gonna make anything easy on any of us." Merle leaned his head back on the pillow, knowing that he and Carol should both get up and get redressed. Carol smiled softly and shrugged.

"Nothing easy is worth it." She said, lying her head back down on his chest. She listened to his heart beat, finding comfort in the familiar noise. Carol smiled again and snuggled up to Merle, tightening her arms around his waist. "I understand why you left, I get it. He's blood, family. But he's not good for you. You've come so far from the man you were at the quarry." She sat up a bit and looked down at Merle. "Don't let him drag you down. I can't lose you. Not again."

Merle reached up and cupped the side of her face before pulling her down and pressing his lips into hers. "Ya ain't ever gonna lose me again." He promised.

"Good." Carol said and rest her head back on Merle's chest. She knew they needed to get up, get dressed and return to life at the prison, but for now she just wanted to lie with him. "Because if you even think about reverting back to who you used to be, I will slit your throat in your sleep."


	23. Marry You (Rowdy Burns Verse)

**This one is insanely long, just a warning. **

**This is related to Rowdy Burns. You will need to have read that one to understand this one.**

* * *

Merle stood in the downstairs bathroom of the house he shared with longtime girlfriend, Carol Barton, holding a small black box in his hand. Inside was a simple engagement ring, nothing special. It was a white gold band with a small square diamond in the middle of it. He'd wanted to get Carol something better, but it was the best that he could afford. He was sure she'd like it anyway, Carol didn't care about shit like that.

He looked up at his reflection, then back down at the black box. He opened the box up and cleared his throat, looking back up at the mirror. "Carol, I... I ain't good with shit like this but I uh.." Merle attempted to practice the speech he was going to give to Carol over dinner that night. He had no idea what he was going to say, he was almost tempted to just thrust the ring at her and hope she would fill in the blanks. He wanted to say something nice to her, make her feel beautiful and loved before he asked her to marry him. Maybe he should ask her during sex.

_Nah._ Carol deserved better a right proposal, deserved him getting down on one knee during dinner and giving her a beautiful speech then asking "Will you marry me?" at the end of it. Christ, how was Merle supposed to do that, he could barely tell her he loved her without stumbling and stuttering through it. The first time he'd said it to her had been a complete mess and Carol hadn't even heard him right. Merle looked down at the box in his hand and shut it, taking a breath and opening it up.

Merle Dixon was never good with words, never good at sharing his emotions with anyone, especially Carol. His father, NASCAR legend Rowdy Burns, had always told him that men don't share emotions, men kept it in. According to his father, wives were for five things; fucking, cooking, cleaning, having kids, and a punching bag. According to Rowdy Burns, kids were for getting their fathers beer and knocking around too. He didn't want to be his father. He'd never even told Carol about how his father was Rowdy Burns. Ever since he and his little brother, Daryl, had died in a car accident, Merle had denied any relation to the man. He changed his name to his Mom's maiden name before she took her own life. He told Carol that his parents were both dead, but he never went on further. Carol tried to get him to talk about it, but he didn't like talking about it. Thankfully Carol didn't push him, even though he could tell that she would have loved to.

"Carol, I know I ain't good with words or... Well, I ain't good with much at all. I don't a lot but I know that I love.." Merle cut himself off, snorting. "That was fuckin' stupid." He set the box down on the counter and grasped the edge of the counter. Why was this so fucking hard? It was just Carol, of course she was going to say yes.

"Why the fuck would she say yes to you, boy?" Merle looked up and jumped when he saw the reflection of his dead father in the mirror. What the fuck? "Ya ain't shit, Merle. Just like I always said you were going to be." Merle turned around like he expected to come face to face with his father. He sighed in relief then turned back around, seeing his father behind him again. Fuck. "Good girl like that, she gonna wise up real quickly that you ain't shit and she'll be out of here quickly. Find someone who isn't a fuck up, someone who has an actual job."

"More of a job than you ever had." He said to his father's ghost. "Driving around in a fuckin' circle all day."

His father laughed at him, the same mocking laugh that Rowdy would give him when he'd take beatings so Daryl or his Ma wouldn't have to. "Mark my words boy, that bitch ain't gonna say yes to you. Soon as you do that like a fuckin' pussy, she's gonna say no and go find herself a real man." Merle's hands tightened and he reeled his arm back to punch out the mirror when a much softer voice entered his mind.

"Merle?" Carol's voice erased his fathers image in the mirror and silenced the voice in his head. "I've been calling you for two minutes, dinner's ready. I made stir-fry..." Merle turned the water on and cleared his throat, picking up the ring box and pocketing it again.

"Be right out, Carol." He said before leaning down to splash water in his face. Merle sighed and looked up at his reflection. "Be a man, Dixon. You got this." He said to himself before turning off the water and wiping his face off with a towel. Merle rubbed his pocket to make sure he had put the box back in his pocket and he walked over to the door, opening it to see his girlfriend leaning against the door.

Carol looked up at her boyfriend, concern written all over her delicate features. "Are you okay?" She asked as Merle walked out of the bathroom and turned back to look at her. Carol stepped over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, looking up at him.

Hoping she couldn't feel the box in his pocket, Merle wrapped his arms around Carol loosely. "Great." He said. Carol smiled softly and stood on her tiptoes to brush her nose past his before pressing her soft lips into Merle's. Any doubt he had over Carol telling him no and breaking off their relationship dissipated with her kiss, but he still had no idea what he was going to say. He was going to have to wing it, which could only end in disaster.

Carol pulled away from him and smiled up at him. "I made short cake for dessert." She teased. Merle raised an eyebrow and looked down at her.

Short cake was his favorite dessert, especially when it was paired with strawberries and whipped cream. Hell, short cake was good on its own and it was delicious with any fruit. "Short cake, huh?" He asked.

"Mmhm. With strawberries... And whipped cream." Carol said, her hands running up his back to cup the back of his neck as she pulled his head down a searing kiss. He grinned as their lips reconnected and Merle backed her up against the wall in their hallway, pinning her between the wall and his body. He didn't worry about her feeling the box, she'd probably think it was an erection if she did.

"Should we just skip dinner and go straight for dessert?" He asked, leaning his head down against the back of her ear. Carol laughed softly and let her hands run down his chest and around his waist.

She moved out from under him and started to walk back towards the kitchen. "Nope!" She called over her shoulder. Merle let out a light laugh then followed Carol back into the kitchen.

"Smells delicious." He said as he came up behind her at the stove. His fingers dripped into the frying pan and pulled out a few peppers and pieces of steak, lifting them up and dropping them into his mouth.

"Merle Dixon!" Carol scolded, turning and swatting his arm as he chewed the food in his mouth. He grinned at his girlfriend like he wasn't fighting with his fathers ghost earlier while he chewed his food. "Will you take some plates into the dining room?" Merle nodded and leaned down to press his lips against Carol's again before turning around and opening the cupboard to fish out two plates, stopping by the silverware drawer to get out two forks. He could almost hear his father mocking his helpful hand to Carol, promptly kicking his father off a unfortunately metaphorical cliff. Merle walked into the dining room and set the plates and forks down in their respectful places as Carol came behind him with the stir-fry. She set down two potholders before she set the pan down. "Keep your mits out of the steak, I'll be right back." She said as Merle took his seat at the table.

Merle chuckled as she walked away, his hand once again returning to his pocket where the ring box was. _Just keep your wits, ya can do this. Yer Daddy can convince yer Mama to marry him, ya can ask Carol to marry you._ He attempted another pep talk to himself as Carol returned with the pot of rice, two beers tucked under her arm. She set the rice down and set a beer in front of Merle, putting her own in front of her. _Oh shit yes, beer. _Merle thought, reaching forward and opening the bottle of beer. He took a long drink from the bottle, drowning almost half the bottle right away.

Carol watched, her eyes widening as he almost drank the whole damn bottle. "Hard day at work?" She asked as he set the bottle down.

"Could say that." He mumbled as Carol leaned forward to fill her plate up with her dinner. "How was school?"

"Oh you know, annoying and frustrating surrounded by frat boys." Carol was going to school at the local veterinary school run by Hershel Greene, the one vet in town. The school was so small that Carol had to study at the local community college when she wasn't in her actual classes.

Merle frowned at the idea of frat boys around his girlfriend. He had enough issues with Carol being around a bunch of guys that were probably more suited for her, smarter guys, better looking guys, younger guys. Carol never seemed affected by them, she always seemed smitten with him. He had decided years ago that she was crazy, it was the only explanation for how much she loved him. "Need me to come down there and stick my boot up their asses?"

Carol let out a soft laugh and leaned over to grasp Merle's thigh. "No, I don't. Everyone there knows whose girl I am." Merle smirked when she said that and his hand covered hers. Feeling better, Merle leaned over and put food on his plate. Merle and Carol ate mostly in silence, Merle glancing over at her repeatedly.

What was the right time to ask Carol to marry him? Stir-fry wasn't the most romantic dinner, but Merle knew if he didn't do it tonight, he'd never do it.

Carol looked over at Merle, noticing that Merle had barely touched his dinner. She frowned, normally Merle would have had a second helping by now. It didn't taste any different than the last time she'd made it, she had no idea what was wrong with Merle. "Merle? You okay?" She asked. Merle looked pale, like he might be sick as he turned to look at her. "Gonna break up with me or something?" She asked jokingly.

Merle frowned as she joked and he shook his head, clearing his throat and attempting to clear his throat and his nerves. It was now or never and Merle couldn't live with himself it was never. They'd been together for five years now, it was time. With a tight voice, Merle spoke. "No, ain't ever gonna do somethin' that stupid." Carol smiled at him and returned to her plate. "Carol?"

"Hmm?" She asked, turning to look at him as she set down her fork. "What is it?"

"Will you uh... Shut yer eyes?" He asked, cringing at the question. Wow that was stupid. Carol picked up her beer and took a quick drink of it before she nodded.

"Okay." She said and shut her eyes, taking a deep breath and waiting for him to tell her to open her eyes.

_Shit. Fuck. Goddammit, why didn't you practice your speech more? __**What? You told me not to practice, that I had this. **__Yeah I lied. Should have practiced. _Merle argued with himself as he reached into his pocket and pulled the box out. It was now or never. With a last chug of his beer, Merle slid out of the chair and got down on one knee, slowly opening the box. "Open."

Carol took a deep breath, unsure of what to expect to see. When she opened her eyes and saw Merle on one knee on her side with an open ring box, she gasped and brought a hand to her face. Tears instantly filled her eyes and she turned to face him.

Merle let a smile form on his face, she didn't look angry or disgusted that he was proposing to her. "I uh.." _Fuck, what do I say? _Carol removed the hand from her mouth and set her hands on her thighs. "I've had this in my pocket ever'day for about two months, waiting for the right moment but I ain't ever found one yet so when I woke up I said it was today or never and I ain't want never, I hadn't really thought past getting down on one knee. Hell, I thought about just shoving the ring at you and not giving you a choice because the idea of you saying no leaves me with this sick feeling I can only compare to drinking a bottle of Jack straight in under a minute but." Merle rambled, unsure of where he was going with this.

Tears streamed down Carol's face and she cupped Merle's face in her hands before leaning down to press her lips into his, wanting him to shut up. She could tell he didn't prepare anything, probably thought he could wing it.

Carol's kiss gave him a small amount of confidence as she pulled away, looking down at him. Merle felt his breath hitch in his throat and he could swear that he was about to cry. _Don't you fucking cry, pussy. _"Will you marry me?" He asked.

A sob escaped Carol's lips and she nodded. "Yes. Yes, yes, a million times yes." She said. Merle pulled the ring out of the box and took Carol's left hand in yes, slipping the ring up her finger. He had only guessed on what her ring size was, so the ring was a bit bigger than it needed to be.

Carol didn't care, she loved it.

Before tears could fall down Merle's face, he turned to look at Carol and pressed his lips against hers, holding her face in his large hands. Carol wrapped her arms around Merle's shoulders and returned his kiss, yelping as Merle stood to his feet, effortlessly picking her up and knocking over the chair she was sitting in. Instinctively, Carol's legs wrapped around his waist tightly, her arms tightening around his shoulders. "Ya cut up those strawberries yet?" He asked when Carol had pulled away from him.

She shook her head, breathing heavily and bringing one hand up to wipe her hands from her face. "No, they're in the fridge." With Carol still wrapped around him, Merle returned to the kitchen to fetch the strawberries and whipped cream out of the fridge. "What about dinner?" Carol asked as Merle began to carry her upstairs, one arm around her and the other holding the strawberries and whipped cream.

"Do you want to go back to eating dinner?" He asked as he attempted to navigate the stairs. Carol considered her options, responding when Merle was at the top of the stairs.

"Well, we're already all the way up here." Carol said with a grin on her face. Merle laughed as he walked into their bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him.

* * *

"So, I was thinking." Carol said as she came into the living room, sitting down on Merle's lap as he sat in his favorite recliner. Merle looked up at her as she sat across his lap and his hand came forward to wrap around her thigh to hold her in place. "About our wedding." _Of course it's about the wedding, else could it be about? _He thought to himself as Carol looked up at him with big wide eyes that told him he was going to have to do something he was uncomfortable with.

"Oh no." He teased. Carol rolled her eyes and set the large wedding binder on her lap, pressing her hands against it. He glanced down at her hands, his eyes inspecting her wrists again. It had been two weeks since the incident with the television and Rowdy Burns, Merle still hadn't forgiven himself for the way he acted. Her wrists had only bruised slightly and Carol had reassured him that she wasn't in pain every time he asked. He was sure that even if she was in pain, she wouldn't have told him.

Carol brought her hand up to his face to tilt his head back so he wasn't looking at her face instead of her wrists. Though she always told him that she had forgiven him for what happened, Merle couldn't let it go. "Merle, we're getting married in a week and a half and we've only got two things left."

Was it seriously only a week and a half until their wedding? Merle couldn't believe that it was less than two weeks until he was going to get married. A panic formed in his stomach, he hadn't imagined getting married and even after he proposed six months ago, he thought they'd just stay engaged for a while, but Carol had almost immediately started planning the wedding. "Week and a half? Really?" He asked.

Carol frowned, worrying that Merle was having second thoughts. Carol took a deep breath and licked his lips. "I... Are you having second thoughts, Merle?" She asked, worry lines forming on her forehead.

Merle looked up at Carol in horror and he squeezed her thigh gently. "No, no. Ain't nothin' I want more than ta marry ya." Merle said and leaned up to press his lips into her forehead. The worry lines disappeared and she sighed heavily. He nuzzled her jaw and put his head on her shoulder. "Are ya gonna have one of them bachelorette parties?" He asked.

Andrea Blake, Carol's best friend and wife to Merle's boss, Philip, was Carol's best friend since high school and her Matron of Honor, and it had fallen on her to plan Carol's bachelorette party. And she had done so without even asking Carol if she had wanted one. "Andrea planned one, yes. Didn't even give me a choice in any matter." Merle pursed his lips, frowning. He didn't exactly like the idea of that. He wasn't having one, he told the few friends that he had he didn't want one. He was going to go out and have a few drinks with them, but wasn't doing anything outrageous. "Unless you don't want me to go.." Carol tilted her head to the side.

Merle looked up at him, he didn't want to be one of _those _fianc_é_s or husbands. Didn't want to be like his Daddy. "Nah, go. Just hope any of them male strippers don't get any ideas." Carol let out a soft laugh as Merle's facial hair tickled her shoulder.

"Anyway! What I was meaning to talk to you about was our vows and our song for our first dance." Carol said, looking over at Merle.

Merle made a face. "We ain't just gonna do those traditional vows?"

Carol shook her head. "I mean, the whole 'do you take blah blah' yeah, we're still gonna do that but... I just think it would be more personal and intimate if we did our own vows. And nothing is very traditional about us... I mean, if you just want to do the traditional vows, fine. We can do that. You haven't asked for anything in our wedding, asides from not having to wear a tux or a tie." Carol said. She looked so disappointed that Merle sighed and gave in.

"Nah, we'll do our own vows." He said. Carol looked at him. She opened her mouth to tell him that no they'd do traditional vows. Merle never asked for anything when it came to the wedding, she could give him this one thing. When she opened her mouth to tell him this, he covered her lips with his. She smiled as he kissed her to silence her and Carol wrapped one arm around his shoulder.

"So our song for our first dance?" Carol asked as she pulled away. Merle groaned and leaned back into his chair. He couldn't believe that she was making him have a big dance in front of everyone. It wasn't going to be a big special dance, it was a just a simple dance. They'd danced before, but it was in the privacy of their house, far away from prying eyes. There were going to be at least fifty people watching them dance. "I was thinking 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing' by Aerosmith. Cheesy, I know, but..."

A soft smile formed on his face, he remembered the song and he knew exactly why Carol had chosen it. "It's the song we danced to the first time." Merle mumbled.

The smile on Carol's face grinned as Merle stated the fact and she pressed her lips to his face. "I love you." She said, climbing to her feet off of his lap. Merle frowned as she stood off his lap.

"Where ya goin'?" He asked. Carol turned back to look at him and flashed him a teasing smile.

"Week and a half to write those vows, baby. Gotta get working." She leaned down to kiss his forehead before walking away from him in the living room, an extra bounce to her step. Merle frowned, what the hell had he gotten himself into?

* * *

Merle returned home from work a few days later to find Carol sitting in their dinning room, her laptop in front of her. She didn't seem to notice his presence as he came towards her, stopping at her side and leaning down to press his lips against her forehead. She tugged away from him when she realized he was standing there, leaning forward to close out whatever file she had opened on her computer. A picture of them together was her desktop, Merle couldn't help but smile at that.

"What? Can't even kiss ya?" He asked, holding both of his hands up. Carol looked up and leaned up to kiss him, smiling.

"Sorry, honey. Didn't want you to see my vows." Carol said, looking towards the computer. He swallowed, remembering he needed to write his vows or Carol was going to kill him. "How are yours coming?" She turned to look up at Merle, narrowing her eyes at her fianc_é._

He hadn't even started them, though he did use a napkin at work to write down 'don't be a bitch with your vows' on them. "Great... Real... Great." He said, turning away from her and heading upstairs to their bedroom to change out of his work clothes. Merle was a mechanic, he always came home dirty and sweaty. Almost always came home from work and went straight up to take a shower. Most of the time, Carol would join him.

Carol frowned and followed Merle upstairs. "You haven't even started your vows, have you?" Carol asked as she followed him into their bedroom. Merle pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it in the hamper, unbuckling his belt and undoing his jeans while he kicked off his boots. He looked back at her as he dropped his pants to the floor, stepping out of them before walking over to her.

"Swear on my Momma's grave, my vows are gonna knock yer socks off." He promised, though that was a stupid thing to promise when he could barely even think about what his vows were gonna say. He had no idea how to convey to Carol that he loved her, how much he loved her. Telling her alone would be hard enough, telling her in front of her family would be even harder.

Carol smiled and leaned up to press her lips to his, reaching forward to slip her hand into his boxers, her soft warm hand connecting with his cock. He sucked in a breath, staring down at her. "Good. Because if they don't, little Merle is going to be very, very lonely for the rest of his life." She said with a smirk. Merle narrowed his eyes as she removed her hand from his boxers.

He watched Carol walk away before he went into their bathroom to take a shower, grumbling to himself about his fiancée.

* * *

Merle had been working incredibly hard on his vows, but he was finding it incredibly fucking hard. How was he supposed to put his feelings into words? He had no idea how, he remembered how terrible it was when he tried to propose. Carol's family was going to be there, what was left of the Dixon family was going to be there, Merle had long lost contact with his fathers family and refused to even think about inviting them. The few friends he had were going to be there. He didn't want any of those people thinking he was some kind of pussy.

But at the same time, this was Carol. She wanted a beautiful, perfect ceremony, down to the vows. And Merle would be damned if he didn't do everything he could to give her that. So the next time Carol asked how his vows were doing, Merle resorted to what he always did; making jokes.

"Great... Do you remember the first time we had sex? Trying to remember how many times I made you come." Merle asked. Carol's face paled in horror as he began to laugh hysterically at the look on her face.

"Merle, you're kidding, right?" Carol asked, watching as Merle kissed her cheek before walking into the kitchen to grab his coffee to head off to work. "You're kidding, right? Merle!" She called after him, cursing when got in his car and drove away.

He had to be kidding. He had to be.

* * *

Today was Carol's last day being Carol Barton, in exactly twenty four hours she would be Carol Dixon. Tomorrow was her wedding, but today was the last hurdle she needed to jump through; her bachelorette party, then spending the night away from Merle. The last time Carol had spent a full twenty four hours away from Merle was probably when they were first dating. Even on May 6, the day his little brother died, she'd see him for a few minutes. She had to admit it, she was nervous about being away from him. But the next time she'd see him, he'd be standing at the altar and she'd be in her wedding dress, which was waiting for her at her grandfather's farm. At least she hoped Merle would be there. As it got closer to her wedding, she was more and more worried.

Carol zipped up her suitcase and returned to the bathroom to finish getting ready, knowing that her maid of honor Andrea would be here anytime soon to pick her up. She brushed through her unruly curls, sighing heavily. Carol heard Merle come into the bedroom and turned to look at him as he started to walk over to her. "Hi." She said as her arms wrapped around him.

Merle looked down from the tight deep purple dress to the black pumps she was wearing. Damn, did she look good. "Them male strippers get any ideas about my girl and you call me. Don't give a fuck if you ain't supposed to see me." He said. Carol smiled and leaned up to press her lips into his gently, trying not to ruin her red lipstick.

"Trust me, honey, any of them get any ideas and the whole damn bar is going to see that I've been a Dixon for a very long time." Carol said as she pulled away from him. Merle grinned down at her and leaned down to capture her lips again in another kiss. "We're getting married tomorrow." She mumbled against his lips.

"I know. Hey, what's your favorite position? Can't remember."

Carol paled again, looking up at him as she pulled away. "Merle Dixon, your vows better not have anything to do with our sex life." She threatened as Merle pulled away with a wicked grin on his face. She heard the doorbell go off and Merle went into their bedroom, picking up her suitcase and carrying it downstairs. "Merle, please tell me you're kidding about that." She pleaded and followed him down the stairs. "Merle Dixon, I swear to God I will walk out on our wedding if your vows have anything sexual in them."

Merle laughed, he and Carol both knew she wouldn't walk out on their wedding. He turned back to look at her while they stood in the kitchen. "Guess you should have done the traditional vows, huh?" He asked and leaned down to kiss her before walking to the front door to let Andrea Blake in. Carol huffed and set her hands on her hips as her best friend entered her kitchen with a grin on her face.

"Ready to go?" Andrea asked, looking between an annoyed Carol and a grinning Merle.

"Yeah, yeah." She said and shot Merle a glare before leaning up to kiss him. "I love you, you jackass." She mumbled.

"Love you too." Merle said, still looking incredibly proud of himself. Carol leaned down and picked up her suitcase, walking out of the house with Andrea.

"Still threatening you with putting graphic sexual details in your vows?" Andrea asked as they walked towards the limo that Andrea and Lori had rented for Carol's party.

"I actually think he's trying to kill me before we get married."

Carol's bachelorette party went without a hitch, though she probably drank a little bit too much. There was a rule at her party that every time she mentioned Merle or her wedding, she had to drink and as she drank more, she talked about Merle and the wedding even more. She became convinced that Andrea was setting her up to talk about Merle. There were strippers, of course, that were dressed as mechanics. She was sure that Andrea had requested that as well. She wasn't a fan of the strippers, but was definitely a fan of what happened after the strippers left.

* * *

Carol stared at her reflection in the mirror of the upstairs bedroom in her grandfather's home, looking at her dress. She'd gone for a simple dress, a floor length white strapless gown with a pleated bodice. Her friends had wanted her to go with something else, something more fairytale like, but Carol had insisted on this one instead. She was getting married outside, this dress was the perfect length. Besides, Merle would probably spend the rest of the night calling her Tinkerbell or Cinderella. She'd let Andrea pick out her reception dress and shoes, immediately regretting it when she saw the dress they picked out. But when she imagined Merle's reaction to the reception dress, she had smiled. Merle would love it. She reached up and touched the curls, wondering how in the hell the hairstylist had gotten her curls to behave so nicely.

"Are you ready?" One of Carol's bridesmaid, Maggie Greene, asked as she leaned against the door frame. Carol turned around and nodded, smoothing the front of her wedding dress out. "You look like a princess." Maggie said as she came forward and hugged Carol. The bridesmaids all wore light yellow sundresses, her Maid of Honor in a light pink sundress. She didn't believe in giving her bridesmaids ugly dresses, it was just mean.

"I feel like a princess, honestly." Carol said and twirled briefly for Maggie. Maggie grinned and kissed her friends cheek.

"I still can't believe Merle proposed before Glenn did." She said as they left the bedroom and went downstairs. Her grandfather, who was walking her down the aisle, Matron of Honor Andrea, bridesmaids Lori Grimes and Maggie, and Merle's groomsmen (his boss, Phillip Blake, coworker Ceasar Martinez, and Maggie's boyfriend Glenn Rhee were acting as groomsmen) were waiting in the kitchen of the house. Merle wasn't having a Best Man, he always said that role was supposed to be filled by his little brother.

"Oh, ma petite fille, you look beautiful." Her grandfather said as he came towards his only granddaughter. Carol's parents had passed away years ago, so when her grandfather insisted she get married at his farm to save money, she asked if he'd walk her down the aisle.

"Thank you, Grandpa." Carol said as she wrapped her arms around her elderly grandfather. Carol looked at her friends and smiled as Phillip came towards her. She reached forward and hugged who she would consider her fiance's best friend, sighing happily. "How's Merle doing?"

Phillip laughed. "If he was able to drink right now, he would have finished off two six packs." He said as he pulled away, cupping her face and kissing her forehead. "You look wonderful. He's not going to know what hit him."

At least he was still here. The group left the house, making sure to keep Carol as hidden as they could as they went down to the lake that was behind her grandfather's farm. First it was Andrea who walked down with Philip, then Martinez and Lori, then Maggie and Glenn. Everything was still blocked off to Carol, she couldn't even catch a sight of Merle.

Tears were already in her eyes as she heard the wedding march and she grasped her grandfather's arm. "Are you ready?" He asked. Carol looked up at him and nodded.

"Yeah."

Merle was staring down at his feet as he heard the wedding march, feeling the nerves in his stomach. Being away from Carol for twenty four hours had been harder than he thought. He kept thinking about how his pants itched and he wished he could just be wearing jeans. At least she wasn't making him wear a fuckin' tux. Carol had agreed to let him wear a pair of nice black dress pants, a black dress shirt and his signature black leather vest. She had wanted him to wear a tie, that was where he put his foot down. Merle fucking hated ties.

He looked up when he heard people standing up and his breath caught in his throat, his vision blurring when he caught sight of his bride. She looked like a vision and Merle had to force himself to stand in his place and not tackle her to the ground now. Carol looked better than he could have ever imagined her looking.

Carol stepped up to the altar and looked up at him as he shook her grandfather's hand and turned to look at her. She was surprised to see tears in his eyes. "Hi." She whispered, looking up at him. She stood directly in front of him, reaching forward to lace their hands together.

"Hey." He said softly, looking down at her. Carol smiled and had to fight the urge not to lean up and kiss him now. She couldn't believe this was happening, that she was marrying Merle.

Carol stared up at Merle, barely listening to the priest talk in front of them. She couldn't see anyone but Merle (and she could barely see him from the tears in her eyes).

"Carol? Carol?" She heard from the priest next to her. She turned her head to look at him.

"Huh?" She asked, having not been paying attention at all.

The priest and everyone in their wedding party chuckled. "Your vows first."

"Oh!" Carol laughed and looked up at Merle. "I'm sorry." Merle chuckled at her and squeezed her hands. Carol had been writing her vows for a week and a half, she basically had them memorized now. When the laughter died down, Carol brought one hand up to cup the side of his face, running her thumb over his cheek. "The day that we first met, even though I was drunk out of my mind, I still remember it. Andrea and Lori took me out to celebrate getting accepted into Dr. Greene's school and uh we went to this bar and it was a disgusting bar, I don't think they'd cleaned in it... Ever.

"And uh, there was this group of big scary guys in leather jackets that... Frankly, scared the living hell out of me. I wanted to leave, but my friends would not let me." Carol took a deep breath and tugged on his leather vest before returning her hand into his. "And I... Even though these guys scared me, I couldn't take my eyes off one of them. He was... Ruggedly handsome and had the most kind blue eyes I had ever seen... And he bought me a drink, straight whiskey. I still can't drink whiskey, mixed or straight."

Merle couldn't stop the snort that left his lips, grinning when Carol laughed. "You were a jerk then, you were rude to everyone, me, my friends, your friends, to yourself. You're still a jerk most of the time." Everyone laughed at that, including the priest. "I was surprised to find the man that I fell in love underneath the leather vest and the alcohol and the swearing. Under the many layers, I was surprised to find the most tender hearted man. I was surprised to find the man that I'd end up falling hopelessly in love with. It's never been easy with us, but... Falling in love with you was... The hardest but most wonderful thing I have ever done in my life." Merle brought his hand up to her face to wipe her tears away from her face, a soft 'shh' coming from his lips.

"If my friends had told me when we first met at that bar that five years later, I would be getting married to the man in the leather vest, I would have called them crazy. Would have told them there was no way in hell I'd marry that guy. But the idea of being with anyone but you, it makes me feel sick and scared. Being without you..." Carol trailed her fingers along his thumb, sniffling. "Being without you makes me feel a fear that I've never felt before. Spending just twenty four hours away from you is hard. I never want to be without you, Merle Dixon. I've never believed in forever before, but um... With you... Forever is pretty damn believable."

"The ring?" The priest asked. Carol brought a hand up to her face and wiped her tears away before she turned back to Andrea and took the simple silver wedding band into her hand, picking up his left hand. "Repeat after me. I, Carol Elizabeth Barton, take you, Merle Thomas Dixon, for my husband"

Carol swallowed her nerves and repeated after the priest. "I, Carol Elizbaeth Barton, take you, Merle Thomas Dixon, for my husband... to have and to hold from this day forward... for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer... in sickness and health... until death do us part." Carol pushed the ring up Merle's finger with a slight amount of resistence, growling the ring. "Come on, work with me." She mumbled, much to the amusement of everyone in their family. "Oh shut up." She glanced at her quests then looked back up at Merle with an amused smile on her face.

"Merle, your vows." The priest said once Carol had finally gotten the ring on his finger.

Merle cleared his throat and tried to pretend that there was no one else there, it was just him and Carol outside talking. He tried to ignore everyone else, it was just Carol. "I uh... I grew up with a nasty bastard for a father." Carol smiled sadly as he brought up his father, squeezing the hand she was still holding. She knew he wouldn't be able to get through his vows without swearing. "He was a real asshole, always knockin' me and my little brother around." Merle's family looked surprised that he was bringing up his father, no one had ever heard him do so. "I uh... He always told me 'boy, ya ain't ever gonna be shit. Ain't ever gonna have anything. Ain't ever gonna have a job or a wife. Never gonna be anything'." Her heart broke as Merle spoke, running her thumb along his finger. "Always believed him, ya get told that enough ya believe it. I went through life beliving it, 'specially after my brother and Ma died. And he was right, I didn't do anything. Never held down a job, never kept a girlfriend. Didn't want othat, either. Was fine just... Doing nothing."

He looked at Carol and with his left hand, he reached up and grasped the side of her face. Do not fucking cry, pussy. Merle scolded himself as he felt tears in his eyes. He didn't want to cry, not in front of all these people. "Never believed that anyone could love me. Only ones who ever did had died." A new set of tears filled her eyes and she squeezed his hand, sniffling. "Then uh... Then I met you. It's cheesy as fuck but uh... I ain't ever believed in anything before I met you. Sure as hell never believed in myself. I never let anyone in, held everyone at four arms lengths. Didn't want anyone to see the fuck up I was. You always tell me that falling in love with a jackass like me was the hardest thing you ever did, but for me.. Falling in love with you was the scariest thing I ever did. And I tried... So hard to prevent it from happening. Tried to push you away, keep you from me. But for some reason, you never let up. " Merle looked down at her, blinking away the annoying tears in his eyes. "I guess I never thanked you for that, for not giving up on me or... On us."

Carol squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I don't know what I ever did to... To deserve you... but I... I'll stop at nothing to keep you and to keep you safe." Merle said. Keeping his masiculnity be dammed, Merle let the tears fall from his eyes. Carol leaned up and wiped the stray tears from his eyes.

Carol cried as Merle produced a matching silver wedding band, lifted her hand up and repeated after the priest. He slipped the ring up against the engagement ring he'd boughten her, squeezing his eyes shut. Carol wiped his face off and smiled up at her fiancee.

"By the power invested in me by the state of Georgia, I now pronounce you husband and wife." Carol choked out a sob and covered her mouth briefly. "Merle, you may now kiss your bride."

"About fuckin' time." Merle growled before he wrapped his arm around Carol's waist and tugged her against his body, pressing his lips against hers. Applause and cheering rang through their wedding guests. Carol held his hands in place to prevent him from flipping them the bird.

* * *

Merle pressed Carol into the wall inside her grandfather's house, wishing he could get his hands underneath the dress she was wearing. His lips pressed into Carol's, bringing his hand up to cup the side of her face. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Merle, stop. We have a reception to attend."

"Do we have to?" He growled playfully as he pressed his lips into hers, pulling away and pressing one of his hands above her shoulder.

She giggled softly and ran her fingers over his leather vest, running her hands down the long sleeves of the black dress shirt. He really did look so good, she would have loved to tear his clothes off and let him take her in the hallway, but she was sure her Grandfather would not appreciate that. When her Grandfather had found out that she was living with a man she wasn't married to, he had been angry. Her Grandfather was a very traditional man, had raised her since she was in her early teens. "Yes. And then once we're done, we can drive off into the sunset on your bike to a cabin in the woods for two weeks where no one will bother us." Carol said, moving out from under him. "Now, I need to change into my reception dress and trust me, you're going to love it." Carol said. Merle raised an eyebrow and looked down at her, narrowing his eyes at her as she walked back up the stairs.

Carol smiled and walked up the stairs, holding her dress up to prevent from getting caught on it. Merle followed her up the stairs, leaning against the wall while she returned to the room she'd gotten dressed in.

Carol shut the door behind her and stretched her back, letting out a happy sigh. She reached behind her back to find the zipper of her dress, pulling it down. Slowly, Carol removed and the dress and stood in the lingerie that she'd picked out to wear for her first night as Mrs. Merle Dixon. It was nothing more than a satin chemise, but she still felt incredibly sexy in it. She smiled and lifted the wedding dress in her arms, putting it back on the hanger and hanging it up on the door. She walked over to the reception dress Andrea picked out, shaking her head it.

The white dress came up to her knees, was covered from the sleeves to the hem of it in a delicate lace. The cap sheer sleeves tickled, but made her feel incredibly beautiful. Carol pulled the zipper up as best as she could on her own at the moment, groaning softly as she released she was going to need help. Carol frowned and slipped into her white pumps, walking over to the door. She poked her head, seeing Merle leaning against the wall just down the hall, staring down at his boots. "Hey. Shut your eyes, I need you to help me."

Merle spoke without looking up from his boots. "How am I supposed to help ya if my eyes 're shut?" He asked, frowning as he stood off the wall and shut his eyes like she asked. He came towards her, stopping when he felt her hands on his.

"Just pull my zipper up, okay?" She asked. Merle nodded and felt around for the zipper, pulling it up until he couldn't anymore. Carol turned around and stood in front of him, taking a deep breath. "Okay, open."

Merle opened his eyes and stared down at the dress that Carol was wearing, his eyes widening at the sight of her in the dress. "I love Andrea." He said as his hands came around to run his fingers over Carol's hips to feel the lace. He tugged her body against his and pressed his lips into hers. "Do we really have to do this reception?" He asked.

"Yes." Carol said and wrapped her arms around his waist. "It's just for a few hours, then we'll be able to go where no one can ever bother us." She promised and kissed his lips.

"Tha's the life." He said. "Alright, lets get this over with, Mrs. Dixon." The name rolled off the tip of his tongue, like she was always meant to be Mrs. Merle Dixon.

A wide grin formed on Carol's face and she licked her red lips. "Say that again."

Merle smirked and rest his hands on the small of her back, looking down at his bride. He'd never get used to calling her his bride. "Mrs. Dixon."

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, would you please help me welcome for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Merle Dixon." Carol looked up at Merle as she heard the voice of one of her cousins come over the speakers and the flaps to the tent opened.

"I'm never going to get tired of being called that." She said softly as she laced her fingers through his and squeezed his hand. Merle looked down at Carol with a goofy smile as they walked into the tent that had been set up for the reception. Everyone from Merle's side of the family to Carol's side of the family applauded and cheered as the newlyweds entered the room, hearing the soft music of 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing' start playing.

Merle groaned, he really didn't want to dance. As Carol's cousin told the guests to join the couple in their first dance as a married couple, Carol turned to face him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Do we have to?" Merle whined, sounding more like a child than she had ever heard him sound.

She rolled her eyes and set one hand on his shoulder, reaching down to grasp one of his hands. "Are you sure you're in your thirties?" Carol asked as his arm came around his waist and he begrudingly danced with his new wife.

"Yup." Merle had to admit, he did like the way Carol felt pressed against him like this. She smiled and rest her head on top of his shoulder, sighing heavily. The only good thing about these heels was one she was able to rest her head on his shoulder perfectly. Her feet were already hurting, she knew it was only going to be made worse through the night.

"Thanks for not putting your favorite sexual position in your vows, I think my Aunt Miriam might have had a stroke." She said. Merle grinned and squeezed his wifes hand. Carol watched as several of the other couples she knew came out onto the dance floor, smiling as they joined them on the dance floor halfway through the song. Merle surprised her by dancing with her for two songs past their song before he pulled her off the dance floor and towards the bar. While they waited for the bartender to get their drinks, Carol and Merle accepted several congraluations from family members and friends, most of whom were from Carol's side of the family.

Merle wrapped his arm around Carol after Carol's Great Aunt Kathy walked away from them, stroking the lace on her shoulder. She looked up at him and held her beer in her hand. "What are you thinking about?" She asked.

He looked down at her and answered honestly. "Daryl." Carol gave him a sad smile and leaned up to kiss his cheek softly. "He would have loved you." Carol wrapped her arm around his waist and sighed softly. Merle took a long drink of his beer and squeezed her shoulder.

"Come on, lets go sit down, alright? My feet are already killing me. Never letting Andrea pick out my outfit ever again." She said, walking over to their table. Merle smiled and watched as she walked away towards their table. He needed to thank Andrea for that dress.

"That dress looks even better on you than I imagined." Andrea said as Carol came over to her. She stood to her feet and wrapped her arms around Carol's waist, hugging her friend close to her. Carol laughed softly and squeezed her best friend before she moved to sit down. "You look so good." She grinned.

"Damn right she does." Merle wrapped his arm around her shoulder, squeezing her shoulder in his hand. He nodded to Andrea in appreciation, lifting his beer to the woman. Andrea grinned proudly and returned to her drink.

Several hours later after dinner and cake and more dancing found the event dwindling down and their guests getting ready to leave. Each guest stopped by the table again to wish them a happy life and to say goodbye. When it came down to their last bit of friends, Merle and Carol announced that they themselves were going to leave soon and Carol left to go get her boots to get on Merle's bike because there was no way she could ride on the back of his bike with heels on. Everything they needed was already up at the cabin so Carol didn't feel bad about leaving her things at her grandfathers.

Carol picked up a pair of shorts and pulled them on under the dress, kicking the heels off and stepping into the leather boots. Merle had gotten her the boots for her birthday a few years back when she first started riding on his bike with him. The boots made her feel powerful, like she could take on anything and anyone. Sure, they didn't go to with dress she was wearing but Carol hadn't brought another outfit for her to leave in. When Carol turned around, she jumped in surprise when she saw Merle behind her. "Christ, Merle, you scared me." He smiled softly and looked at her, not saying a word. Carol frowned and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "You okay?"

Merle took a long, deep breath and Carol realized that he was trying not to start crying. "I uh.. Hadn't realized how hard today was going to be without Daryl or Ma." He said honestly. Carol looked up at him with a broken hearted look, running her hands over his leather vest.

"I know it's not the same but... It's been a hard day with my parents." She took a deep breath and leaned up to press her forehead against Merle's, briefly pressing her lips into his. "But we've got each other." Merle smiled at her attempt to cheer him up, tugging her against his body.

Enough of these stupid fuckin' emotions, I want to get the fuck out of here. "Come on, lets get out of here so I can finally get you out of that dress."

* * *

An hour bike ride and a half hour hike through the woods found Carol and Merle at the cabin they'd rented for the next two weeks, having forgone spending anytime in any room but the bedroom. Merle carried Carol straight through the house and into the bedroom, grinning as he dropped her onto the bed.

Carol giggled as Merle jumped into the bed and she rolled over onto her stomach. "Unzip my dress." She requested. Merle complied quickly, that was one thing he didn't need to be asked twice to do. He reached forward and grasped the zipper, pulling it down. He watched as her perfect skin became available to him, leaning down to press a kiss against her back. "I'll be right back. Stay here." Carol said as she climbed off the bed. Merle frowned as Carol left the bedroom and went into the bathroom, kicking his boots off and leaning back against the large bed.

Merle held his hands behind his head, shutting his eyes and crossing his legs. He started to sit up to pull his vest off when Carol left the bathroom. He saw her legs first, her riding boots still on her feet. He smirked when he noticed that. Slowly, his eyes raked up to see the tiny, satin white... thing she was wearing. It wasn't a nightgown, it wasn't exactly lingere either, he didn't know what to call it. But it was fucking sexy. "Goddamn.." Merle said as Carol came towards the bed. She climbed on the bed and crawled up where Merle was sitting up, leaning up to press her lips into his. "You are the sexiest fucking thing I've ever seen."

"Ever look in a mirror?" She teased as she straddled his lap. Merle laughed against her lips and ran his hands down her back, resting his hands over her firm ass. Carol grinned as she pulled away from him and she moved her hands to his dress shirt, slowly beginning to unbutton the shirts. She didn't want to rip it open, it was an expensive shirt and she didn't want to ruin it. She leaned down and pressed her lips against his chest and stomach as his flesh became exposed to her, running her fingers over his scarred flesh. She pulled his shirt out of his pants and sat back up to push his vest and shirt over his shoulders and off his arms. Merle shrugged the shirt and vest off, tossing it onto the floor. "Twenty four hours without you was way too much." Carol said as she ran her hands over his chest and around the back of his neck.

Merle nodded in agreement, running his hands from her ass up her back and into her hair, pulling her mouth against his. "Let's never do it again." He said against her lips. Carol nodded and ran her hands between them and unbuckled his belt, quickly undoing his button and zipper. He wrapped an arm around her waist and held her against his body as he raised his hips up, pushing the pants down with one hand until he could easily kick out of them. Merle reached up and pushed the white satin fabric up her back. Carol pulled away from him and reached her arms down, pulling the shirt over her head and tossing it to the floor where there other clothes were. He smirked when he saw that she had absolutely nothing on but her riding boots and he leaned up to kiss her. She really was a gift he never deserved.

Merle gently rolled them over so that Carol was on her back, leaning on his side as his mouth connected with her neck. Carol let out a soft moan and arched her neck into his mouth, smiling as his facial hair tickled her skin. His mouth trailed down over her chest, teeth grazing over her nipple before his mouth moved down her stomach. Carol watched as he kissed over her thighs and her knees. He stopped at her calves and slowly unbuckled the buckles on the belt to reveal the zipper, pulling the zipper down slowly before removing the boot and tossing it to the floor. He did the same thing with the other boot before reaching back to pull his socks off, knowing that Carol hated it when Merle wore socks during sex.

Carol sat up as Merle started to lean back up to her, wrapping an arm around him and crashing her lips against his. Merle wrapped his arm around her as he lied back on his back, allowing Carol to straddle his lap again. She pulled her mouth away from his lips and trailed her lips down his jaw as she reached between them to grasp his length and guide his cock into her entrance. She shut her eyes as he pushed up into her, letting her head fall on his chest. She let out a loud moan, there was no around for miles, there was no need for her to even try to be quiet. Merle grinned as she moaned, his hands holding her hips tightly as he filled her completely.

"Hate not getting to be buried inside you." Merle mumbled. His thrusts were slow and delibrate, burying his head between her breasts as he thrust up into her. Carol laced her fingers together behind his neck, grinding her hips into his when he pulled out of her. His mouth attached to her chest, his lips finding her nipple and sucking it into his mouth. She leaned her head back and moaned, digging her nails into the back of his neck.

Carol gasped as his teeth dug into her nipple. "Merle!" She cried out and arched her chest into his mouth. He smirked and wrapped his arm around her waist, rolling them over again so he was on top of her. He held himself up as to not push all of his weight ontop of her. Merle thrust into her as Carol's hands found his and she laced her fingers through his. "Look at me.." She purred. Merle lifted his head up and pressed his forehead against hers, pressing his lips into hers. Carol's legs wrapped around his waist, her heels digging into the middle of his back, pushing her hips up into his. "Oh, Merle.." The thrusts that had once been slow started to pick up, his hands pinning hers into the bed. Merle's mouth removed from her mouth, pressing kisses over her jaw. "I love you." She arched her back as his pressed kisses over her chest again, wishing he could get his mouth on every single inch of her.

He lifted his head up to look at her. He would never be used to the fact that she loved him, even if it had been four years since she first told him that she loved him, even if she said it everyday for the next twenty years. Merle licked his lips and leaned up to kiss her, mumbling against her lips. "Say it again." He pleaded. Carol unlaced her hand from one of his and she cupped the side of his face, turning his head so she'd look at him.

"I love you." Carol said.

They came quickly after that, collapsing into a pile of tangled, sweaty limps. They were both exhausted from the long day, but refused to let sleep take over them.

"I forgot to tell you... About something that happened at my bachelorette party." Carol started. Merle lifted his head from his place with his head on her chest, frowning.

"One of them strippers get an idea about you?" He asked.

Carol smiled at his reaction and reached up and cup the side of his face. "No, honey. Dr. Greene showed up... To tell me that he wants me to come intern for him while I take my last few courses." She said, running her thumb along his jawline. "Then work with him after I finish my courses."

"So ya finally got a job and can stop mooching off me?" He teased, laughing when Carol's forefinger and thumb pinched behind his ear. "I'm proud of you." Carol leaned up and pressed her lips into his softly, biting down on his bottom lip.

"You know, I think we have strawberries and whipped cream in the fridge..." Carol grinned, sitting up and throwing her legs over the edge of the bed. She climbed out of the bed and snatched Merle's dress shirt off the floor, pulling it over her arms. Merle rolled over onto his back and grinned as he watched Carol button two of the buttons on the shirt. She was basically swimming in the shirt it was too big on her, but damn did she look good in nothing but his shirt.

Carol stood from the bed and left the bedroom, heading into the kitchen. Despite the fact that they were in a cabin in the woods, they did have a generator with enough power for two weeks. Carol insisted on that, insisted on having elecriticty. Carol walked to the fridge and opened it up, looking inside. She pulled out a container of strawberries, a can of whip cream and two bottles of beer. Carol balanced them in her hands, kicking the fridge shut behind her.

She returned to the bedroom, grinning when she found Merle with his eyes shut. "Merle?" She said as she set the strawberries, whipped cream and beer on the end table. When he didn't respond to her, she grinned and tugged the shirt off, letting it drop to the floor. Carol picked up the can of whipped cream, removing the top and shaking it up. "Merle?" Carol asked again, shrugging and spraying her new husband with the can of whip cream.

The cold cream smacking Merle in the chest and face woke him up. "Aw, what the hell, Carol?" He asked as he looked up at his giggling wife. In a swift motion, he sat up and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling it against his chest. Carol squealed and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, laughing loudly.

"Baby!" Carol laughed as Merle rolled them over onto the bed, pressing his chest against hers. She looked up at him and grinned before leaning up to lick the side of his face clean of whip cream. "Tastes good." She grinned.

Merle smirked and leaned down to press his lips into Carol's, the items on the end table forgotten as they made love for the second time that night.


	24. Too Many Fucking Pillows

All Merle wanted to do was sleep, that was it. He wanted to crawl into bed and sleep. What he didn't want to do was pull a hundred fucking pillows off the bed before he could even get into bed.

"Too many fucking pillows on my goddamn bed." Merle said as he began to take the pillows off the bed, throwing them over his shoulder carelessly. Carol would be angry he didn't take care of them, but Merle was so fucking tired he didnt give a shit. He could deal with it some other time.

Merle tossed the last pillow over his shoulder and pulled the comforter back. He shed his t-shirt and pants, crawling into the bed in just his boxers. He sighed and lay in the bed, putting his head on his single pillow. He only needed one pillow, didn't know why Carol put so many on the bed.

Merle quickly fell asleep in the bed, mouth falling open as he began to snore.

Carol returned home from work, setting her bag on the counter. Her five month old puppy, Bob Barker, came running up to her. She would have liked to name him something else, but she let her seven old son James name. James was proud of himself when he came up with Bob Barker.

"Hi, Bob, where's your Daddy and brother?" She asked, petting the top of the bulldogs head. It was fairly late, James should definitely be asleep.

Carol walked upstairs to her sons room and poked her head into the room. James was in his bed, dinosaur blanket pulled up to his head. She smiled and walked into the room and leaned down to kiss his head. Carol hated working night shifts at the hospital, she preferred getting to be at home with Merle and James.

Carol left James's bedroom and walked down to her bedroom, pushing open the door and flipping the light on. Bob Barker followed her into the room, walking over to the pile of pillows on the floor. He walked a circle around the pillows before plopping down in the middle of the pillows.

She rolled her eyes at how the pillows were so carelessly thrown on the floor by her husband. Carol rolled her eyes and removed her scrubs, walking into their bathroom. Carol showered and changed into pajamas before crawling into bed with Merle.

He rolled over in the bed, opening one eye as Carol crawled in the bed. Merle wrapped an arm around her as she curled up in bed with him. "I want those pillows taken care of before I get up." Carol said to Merle.

He yawned. "Too many fucking pillows anyway." Upon feeling a pinch on his chest, he hissed and rubbed his chest. "Fine, fine."

"Bob Barker better not pee on those pillows." Carol said. Merle glanced up at the dog on the floor and secretly hoped Bob Barker would piss on the pillows so he could throw the damn things out.


	25. Tomatoes

Merle Dixon strolled along the prison grounds as he walked towards the garden where his target was sitting in front of one of the several gardens Rick and Carl had planted under the guidance of Hershel. The older Greene was leaning up against a shed that Daryl and himself had built, having a conversation with Carol and Rick. Rick's son, Carl, was on the opposite end of the garden with a basket in front of him, begrudgingly picking pea pods. He growled, he'd hoped that he would be able to get Carol alone, even if it was just for a few moments. Merle cleared his throat to announce his presence, the four people in the group turning to look at them.

"Good morning, Merle." Hershel said as Merle was finally in earshot. Merle made a face at Hershel, his hand slipping into his pocket. He glanced down at Carol, who had turned her attention up to him as he came over to the group.

_It'd be a good morning if I hadn't had to wake up before I got my morning sugar. _Merle thought to himself, his eyes trailing over Carol's body over the cleavage that was obvious in her tank top. He grunted and looked back at Hershel, glaring at the all knowing Greene. "No such thing as a good morning, Hershel. Too damn early." He glanced up at the sky, there was still a strong smell of dew in the air. Merle figured it wasn't more than eleven in the morning, too fucking early to be awake. Eleven was good for just falling asleep after a long night of partying.

Rick had also noticed the look he gave Carol, he'd known about Carol and Merle's relationship; he'd caught them thinking they were being sneaky within corners of the prison. He hadn't told anyone, but he did tell them to be more careful about where they meet up, that was something the kids didn't need to see. "Thought you and Daryl were goin' hunting?" Rick asked. Despite everything that Merle had done for the group in the past six months; going on runs with his brother, hunting for food with his brother, _killing the Governor, _Rick still didn't trust Merle very much. Merle didn't blame him, though, Merle didn't really trust Merle. He figured the only ones that did trust him were Hershel and Carol, maybe his baby brother.

Merle nodded. "Went out, checked our traps and reset them. Caught a bunch of Thumper's and Rocky's. Ain't seen a Bambi in a while." He explained.

"I'm sure they're all just hiding from the Dixon brothers." Carol said from her spot in front of the garden. He looked down and watched as Carol plucked a nice plump tomato off it's vine, rolled it in her hand and dumped it in the basket at her feet. His mouth watered, he _loved _tomatoes growing up. Neighbor down the road used to have a garden, he and Daryl used to sneak into her backyard and steal her vegetables. Woman knew it was the Dixon brothers, didn't do anything about it. Everyone knew about Will Dixon and how cruel he was to his kids, while they didn't do anything about it, they didn't get the kids in trouble when they'd steal for food. Course, once Daryl and Merle weren't kids anymore, neighbors had no problem calling the cops on them then.

"Best behavior, Merle." Rick reminded as he came around the garden, patting his son's head before he began to walk up to the prison. Merle rolled his eyes and knelt down by Carol, glancing over the garden to glance at Carl. Carl quickly looked down at the pea pods he was picking, the too big Sheriff's hat falling over his face. When he looked up again, Hershel was following Rick back up to the prison.

"Think Rick just thinks I'm gonna wake up one day and go on a murderin' spree." Merle said to Carol, watching as she checked out the tomatoes in the vines, picking bugs off them. There wasn't must they could do to keep the bugs off of them, supplies to make natural sprays to keep them off were becoming harder and harder to find and finding chemicals to do it was just as hard.

Carol craned her head back and looked at Merle. "Well you _did _try to kill Glenn. A lot."

Merle snorted. "Six months ago. And I did kill the Governor, did everyone forget about that?"

Plucking another decent sized tomato off the vine, wiped it on her pant leg and dropped it back into her basket. "You didn't do that for _us. _You did it for Daryl, so you could stay with Daryl."

Merle grumbled and looked back up at the prison. He wouldn't deny that, he had solely done it so that he could stay with Daryl. So he could wipe the slate clean, be good with these people. Shit that happened with Carol happened long after he had returned from killing the Governor. "Shit, Glenn said he forgave me, can't Rick move past it?"

Carol turned to look at Merle and raised one of her eyebrows. "Did you really come down here to talk about Rick?" Merle opened his mouth to tell her that no he didn't come down here to talk about Officer Friendly, he had hoped to come down here so that he could get some action from Carol.

The teenager across the garden stood from his spot across the garden and came over to Carol, holding the basket that was full of pea pods. "I finished with the peas, do you want me to move on to something else?" Carl asked as he set them down next to the shed where they had placed the finished baskets.

Carol looked up at the frustrated teenager, then back to Merle. Taking pity on Carl, she spoke. "Why don't you feed the pigs then get out of here? I'm sure you can find something better to do, and Merle here won't mind giving me a hand finishing up, do you Merle?"

Merle leaned forward and reached into the tomato vine, plucking out a nice sized tomato without looking at it. He looked down at the perfect tomato, blowing dirt off of it. "Not at all." He said.

A grin formed on Carl's face, though his gut told him that a one handed man probably wouldn't be the best choice to pick fruits and vegetables out from the garden. "Thanks Carol, thanks Merle!" He exclaimed before taking off towards the pig pen. Carol smiled and moved to sit on the other side of the tomato vines, reaching back into the vines.

"So what did you come down here to talk about?" Carol asked after she picked a few more tomatoes. It seemed that she wasn't going to find anymore, so she set the basket aside and moved to the line of carrots they had planted, checking the carrots out.

Carol sat on her knees, leaning forward as she checked out the carrots. He turned to look at her, feeling his cock twitch in his pants as he watched her bend over like that. Christ, this woman was going to give him a fucking heart attack. "Who said I came ta talk?" He flashed Carol a wolfish grin and the woman looked up, shooting him a warning look.

She looked away from him and a smile formed on her lips. No one had ever made her feel as beautiful as Merle Dixon, not any man she had ever been interested in or involved with. Carol and Merle were both in their late forties, but with each other they felt like they were teenagers without a care in the world. "Too early for that, Merle." She said as she dropped a handful of the carrots into the basket.

Merle reached his good hand into the tomato vine he was sitting in front of, large hand coming out with two medium sized tomatoes in his hand. "Ain't ever too early for that." Carol rolled her eyes and decided to ignore Merle's comment, feeling her stomach flutter at the look he was giving her. Carol went around the carrots, picking out ones that were ready and leaving those that weren't in the ground. Next after the carrots and past the peas Carl had already picked were the onions. Carol always loved onions, even if they were impossible to cut without crying a bunch. When Carol was finished with the onions, she found herself back with Merle at the tomato vine.

He had only picked out six or so tomatoes, causing a grin to form on her face. "I should have known better than to ask the one handed man to help me pick out the vegetables." She teased as she sat on her knees next to him, the heel of her boot digging into her ass.

Merle scoffed. "Real fuckin' funny." He said as he pulled his hand out of the vine. "Fuck!" He shouted as a vine tore into his finger. He removed his hand from the vine and brought his finger into his mouth, hissing.

"Christ, Merle, do you always have to hurt yourself?" Carol asked as she reached into the bottom pocket of her cargo pants. She fished out a decent sized band-aid and grasped his wrist, pulling his hand from his mouth. Carol wiped his finger off on her pants and opened the band-aid up, wrapping it around his finger.

His finger was wrapped up and no longer bleeding, a metallic taste in his mouth from his blood. He spat out onto the ground behind Carol and shook his hand out. Damn vine dug into his skin good, reminded him of a paper cut. Merle'd been shot several times in his life, but he'd take ten bullets before he'd want a paper cut. Carol discarded the band-aid wrappers into her pants and had gone back to the tomatoes. "What? Ain't gonna kiss it and make it all better?" He asked.

Carol looked back at him, rolling her eyes. "Are you serious?" She asked, looking at the playful pout Merle had on his face. When he simply held his injured finger out to Carol, she let out a heavy sigh and leaned forward to press her lips against the band-aid. "You are a 12 year old in a grown mans body." She said as she pulled away from him. He grinned and reached back into the vine, pulling a tomato out. He rubbed it off on his pants and brought it up to his mouth, taking a huge bite of it. "Merle Dixon!" Carol said as she watched as he took a large bite of the red fruit (Carol still found it hard to believe that a tomato was a fruit, but she knew it was).

Merle grinned as he pulled the tomato away from his mouth, the tomato juices and seeds sticking in his beard. Carol stared at the grin on his face while he chewed the snack in his mouth. The happy look on his face made it almost impossible for her to stay angry at him. Not a lot made Merle Dixon grin like that. She leaned forward and brought her finger up to his facial hair, brushing her thumb in his beard to push the seeds from his chin.

"Those are supposed to be for the whole group." Carol said as Merle brought the tomato up to his mouth and took another bite of it.

"There's enough fer everyone." He said through food in his mouth, nodding towards the basket on the ground.

"Tomatoes only go so far." She said as Merle swallowed. Merle shrugged and took another bite of it.

"Damn good tomato." He said to Carol like she should be proud of the tomato. Carol laughed softly and leaned over, taking a much smaller bite of the tomato in his hand, her lips brushing past his flesh. Merle watched as she pulled away from him, chewing and swallowing the bite of her tomato. He tossed the rest of the tomato in his hand into the basket, leaning over to crash his lips into hers, pinning Carol between the ground and his firm body.

Carol let out a laugh as Merle pinned her against the ground, his stump pressed above her shoulder. "Not out here, Merle.." She mumbled as his mouth tore from hers and trailed down her throat hungrily. "Someone could see."

"Ain't no one watchin', sweetness." He murmured against her skin. Carol looked over Merle's shoulder, looking up at the prison and over at the closest watch tower. If there was someone inside of it, she couldn't tell. The plants would probably block them and the noises from the walkers would block out any noises that could be heard. She let out a soft moan, shutting her eyes as Merle's mouth trailed over her glistening chest. Merle smirked as he heard the moan from her, her legs wrapping around his waist. She locked him in a vice grip, leaving him unable to move at all.

"Wait... Tonight... It will be more worth it." Merle growled as Carol told him to stop, but he knew that Carol was right. Getting worked up in the morning and aching for her all day made the fucking latter that night so much better. Merle lifted his head up and looked down at her. Carol wasn't surprised at the pure lust in his eyes, if anything it just turned her on even more. "I'll meet you in the library tonight, after dinner." She said, loosening the vice grip she had on his waist. He grumbled unhappily before climbing off of her, picking up the tomato he'd been eating.

"Leave me with a fuckin' hard on all fuckin' day." Merle growled. Carol rolled her eyes, thankful that Merle couldn't tell just how turned on she was right now, and having sex right next to the garden seemed like a great idea. She looked over at him, both still lying on the ground. She leaned over and took a bite of the tomato he was almost finished with, leaning over to press her lips into his afterward.

She spoke when she pulled away from him, smiling at him teasingly. "Shut up and eat your tomato."


End file.
